Friesencold

I’m sorry I forgot to tell you as soon as I found out, but I’m telling you now that my friend Lauren won that contest! Isn’t that perfect? Read Lauren’s take on it here.

We had a party for Cash this evening in our backyard and here are a few of my favorite pictures of him from tonight:

The bounce house that my friend Corrine let us borrow was a huge hit with all the kids!

We were singing Happy Birthday to Cash in this picture.

He’s about to dig in.

Yeah, I think he likes it.

The party tonight got me thinking about Bauer’s 2nd birthday party. We invited a few of his little buddies from our playgroup at that time over to our house to celebrate with a cookie cake from the same place that we got Cash’s cookie cake and we had digger plates and napkins and the kids all wore construction worker hats.

I had forgotten that I made smoothies for the kids for Bauer’s party too. Gettin’ him started early!

Hopefully everyone knows who Tucker is by now. Cash’s cake tonight said “Happy 2nd Birthday Cash & BoBo.” BoBo is his little stuffed monkey that he sleeps with every night and totes around when we go places.

Okay so I was really excited when I found this picture to see that for Bauer’s party 3 Septembers ago, I was wearing the exact same pair of shorts and the exact same Old Navy tank top that I’ve been wearing all summer this year (and every summer in between). Tonight I was wearing my green shorts just like the khaki ones above and my gray Old Navy tank top in place of the purple one. It was chilly outside today, though, so I had a long-sleeve shirt on too, but I love that I can say I’m getting good mileage out of these clothes I love so much!

That’s Bauer’s buddy Nico in the background and Bauer’s buddy Tucker in the foreground. Tucker looked a bit better back then than he does now.

This photo has no significance to 2nd birthday parties, but I just found it when looking for the other pics and wanted to show you how cute my little 2-year old Bauer was when he was all dressed up for my sister’s wedding back in 2007.

I’m calling it a night, a good night.

I like my friend Lauren’s video, so please vote for her to win. Here’s the post about that! And you just might win something yourself.

The boys liked being on the backhoe and tractor at my grandparents’ house when we visited NC a couple weeks ago.

Cash liked looking out the airport window for planes and he likes his new Thomas toddler backpack that we got him as an early birthday gift so he could carry it on our trip.

He likes his sweatband too!

I like my $9.50 Old Navy shades (and of course I like my tattoo). I thought I was going to buy some sunglasses from The Sunglass Hut so we recently ordered a SGH gift card from our Discover Rewards Program. However, I ended up not finding any I really loved at SGH and finding these ones I did (and do) love at Old Navy. So…all of that to say I have a $60 SGH gift card that I’m trying to sell for $40. If you know of anyone who’s interested, let me know.

Bauer likes this shirt he made at the space-themed VBS he attended earlier in the summer. He already has it set aside to wear this week for Cash’s birthday party on Wednesday night. Cash likes the new red shirt with Disney characters that my aunt gave him for his birthday when we home visiting family. I like my mom’s shirt, and I also like the cool old floor in my grandmother’s house.

We all like our new Snack Taxis. I posted more about them on the MealBaby blog today. “Edgy Veggie” is my favorite.

Bauer likes pretending to talk on the phone, especially if it’s a phone in a hotel room.

And TJ? Well, TJ likes getting our new house all ready for us to move into. He has been working so hard and doing a fabulous job. We have officially started packing and have less than 2 weeks to go!

Ribfest is one of the many things we enjoyed over July 4th weekend, my mom being the main attraction. As always she was a tremendous help with the boys and Bauer loved having Gigi here to share in all the adventures of the weekend.

On Thursday night we went to hear the Naperville Municipal Band give their 4th of July themed concert. There were so many people there that we had to sit way around on the side where we couldn’t even see the band. But we could hear it just fine. Happy Birthday wishes went out to a 108-year old member of the audience. That was cooler than the music to me!

On Friday morning we went to Bauer’s last swim lesson (more on that later) and then took the Naperville Trolley Tour. We had done this tour one time before when TJ’s parents were in town, but I wanted my mom to experience it, not to mention I was looking forward to a refresher course on some of the history of Naperville. We invited some friends along, which made it even more special for Bauer.

Friday afternoon/evening, we attended a BBQ at the house of some friends of ours. Because I knew the kids would be fully occupied by the excitement of playing with other kids and because I know my mom loves to visit Anderson’s bookstore when she’s in town, I suggested to her that she take a break and enjoy downtown Naperville, just walking around and visiting stores and having dinner at her leisure. She loved the idea and had a great time doing that, while we were talkin’ and eatin’ and chillin’ with friends. The best part for the kids was the improptu game of Bumper Cars they came up with toward the end. You should have seen all the Cozy Coupes and similar vehicles in action on the driveway! Or maybe you did if you saw TJ’s Mobile Upload to Facebook that afternoon.

Saturday was the BIG DAY as we went to both Toy Story 3 and Ribfest. My mom joined us for the movie because she was wanting to see it too. That was fun to be there all together and know Cash could be as loud as he wanted at home with our great babysitter. My mom brought a Toy Story 3 art pack to Bauer this trip and he enjoyed spending lots of time over the weekend coloring with Gigi and working on the cover page of his Toy Story booklet.

On Saturday afternoon, my mom offered to watch Cash for us so we could go to Ribfest with just Bauer (and Jaime and Branton again!). It was pretty hot that day so I was glad Cash didn’t have to be out in the heat and fussing cause he’d want to do everything Bauer was doing but wasn’t quite big enough to do. You’re probably thinking Cash got a bum deal on Saturday but my mom said the two of them had a blast and Cash was perfectly content to be home with her, running around and doing all his funny antics that he does.

The first thing we did at Ribfest was the free kids area, with tons of inflatables.

Then it was time for ribs! TJ and I both got the pulled pork sandwich plates from Desperado’s and TJ also ordered a “teaser” of 3 ribs from there. The food was delicious! My once-a-year splurge on the worst meat ever (but it sure did taste good, not to mention the energy I had the next morning for swimming laps!).

Branton and Bauer (and Tucker) are good little buddies.

After we ate, it was ferris wheel time. Not part of the free rides, but definitely a fun, new experience for Bauer.

After the rides, we let the boys do one game each, the one where you pick a rubber duckie from a pool of water and the duck either has an S or an L on the bottom for Small or Large prize. Both of them got S’s but it’s good they did, because I know the Silly Bands (a small prize) were what they both wanted more than any of the other prizes.

As we were walking home after Ribfest, Bauer asked if we could stop and get ice cream like we did last year. He remembers going to the gelati place in downtown Naperville with the friends who we went to Ribfest with last year (different friends than this year). It was crazy that Bauer brought this up after a year had gone by, but he was right! So we thought it would be fun to continue the tradition.

Here is last year’s picture:

And here is this year’s picture:

I actually put this year’s picture in the R section of Bauer’s alphabet book and called it “Rice” Cream since that is how Bauer says ice cream. I had to explain to him why I was putting it in as an R picture so as not to confuse him since I had previously explained to him that ice cream starts with I.

Also for R, we read a couple good books:

and made a couple cute robots:

For S, we read 3 terrific books, all highly recommended if you are looking for good children’s books in general. Swimmy is one of those that just lights up yours and your kid’s face the first time you read it.

We also planted Sunflower Seeds in a fold-your-own paper pot that came with a Wal-Mart gift card I bought ages ago. I hope they will grow! It takes 6-8 weeks, which Bauer really has no concept of, but he enjoyed digging up some dirt from our garden to put in the little pot.

Another fun S thing we did was build a Sandcastle from a mixture of sand, cornstarch, and alum. Here’s the recipe if you’re interested. It was kind of like making something out of Playdough. After a week the sandcastle will be completely dry and hardened so we can keep it for a good while (but not forever, as Bauer would hope).

S is also for Swim Lessons, which Bauer really enjoyed. I know I already posted a few pictures in an earlier post, but TJ took a few more great ones on Bauer’s last day.

Gotta buckle my life-vest.

I love my goggles!

Gettin’ in the water.

Working on floating and kicking.

High-fiving the teacher.

Bauer’s group joined up with another group for some kind of circle game in the water. First Bauer watches:

Then he takes a turn in the middle:

He’s a brave boy.

And he loves going under.

The lessons are all done now and Bauer gets a lift out of the water.

Treats await the kids.

And Bauer gets his Starfish Swimming School Achievement Book.

And now back to my mom’s visit since I never quite finished telling what we did. On Sunday morning we went to Centennial Beach right when it opened at 11 and were there for a couple hours. Cash got sunscreen in his eyes near the beginning so that was a bit traumatic for him, but we survived. Once I stuck him in the shower to clean him off, put his clothes back on him, and got him distracted by Bauer’s Silly Bands, he was all set to hang on the blanket with Gigi.

Bauer had a great time in the water jumping off TJ’s shoulders.

And then I taught Bauer that game called Categories. I picked the category, like Colors or Fruit, and then he had to guess what I was thinking. Each time he guessed wrong, I dunked him under and when he got it right, I flipped him over backwards. He loved it!

I like this picture of the three of us in a row.

As you can see, the beach was a popular place to be on the 4th!

We wrapped up the day (and Gigi’s visit) with the fireworks display in downtown Naperville, but I don’t have any pictures to show of that. I’m sure you saw your own fireworks and felt the same feelings of wonder and joy that we did. Hope you didn’t get as many mosquito bites as we did though!

This morning, I finished reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave and it ranks right up there with The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (both by Khaled Hosseini). I loved the story of Little Bee so incredibly much. I loved it from beginning to end. My life stopped so I could read, read, read it. The book ended and I have been a bit out of sorts all day. I am really looking forward to reading Chris Cleave’s earlier book called Incendiary.

One reason I got to read so much over the last few days was that my mom came into town for a quick visit. It was a lot of fun and I always wish she could stay longer. At dinner tonight, which was after we had just taken Gigi back to the airport, Bauer and I talked about all the things we did with Gigi and I asked him what his favorite was.

Here’s what Bauer and I named that he got to do with Gigi while she was here:
-Went to Target
-Walked to downtown Naperville for dinner at Lou Malnati’s
-Went to Barnes and Noble
-Played in the backyard a lot
-Had numerous picnics in the backyard (at least 4 in 3 days)
-Played with cars
-Read books
-Played and jumped on the air mattress

Bauer said his favorite thing was going to Lou Malnati’s with Gigi (and the rest of us) to have pizza.

That picture is on TJ’s phone, but I have some others to share. We have been on the letter L for the past couple of days, which was perfect for Lou Malnati’s pizza on Friday night.

Here are the L books,

and here’s Gigi reading them to Bauer over breakfast one morning.

Another big hit for the letter L was the Lite Brite I recently bought for five bucks at a homeschool curriculum resale. I was unsure of what exactly I would be getting inside the taped-up box, but I figured for such a small price, it was worth the chance. Everything works, and there are plenty of the unused Lite Brite punch-through black pages for Bauer to do. A nice surprise!

Of course, his first pick was the train!

This is a great activity for eye-patching, too.

Before L was I, J, and K.

For I, we looked at igloos on Google Images and then made an igloo on construction paper.

Next Bauer made an igloo out of letter blocks.

Then we went to a nearby park and saw that the tiered climbing wall looked like an igloo.

If You Want to Read Some I Books….

Or you could play I Spy Bingo (fun times).

I had trouble deciding on J books. I had first gotten the Jellyfish one and a couple of books by Jan Brett to be our J books. But then I realized I really wanted to use the Jan Brett ones for N (Noah’s Ark) and T (Trouble with Trolls, which also includes a dog named Tuffi). So we went with these two shown below, and then on the last day of the letter J, Bauer was looking through the books on his bookshelf and pulled out A Big Bed for Jed and said that should have been a J book too. Oh well…

We went all around downtown Naperville looking for places starting with J to take pictures of. Our first stop was Jamba Juice, and Bauer (and Cash) got a smoothie from there for our J snack.

Ezra Jack Keats was featured for the letter K. We had checked out all of Keats’ books one time a while back from the library, so this time, I knew just which ones I wanted to get for Bauer. A Letter to Amy is the one he liked best.

We made a koala mask, which Bauer really enjoyed putting on and showing to Cash first, and then to TJ when he got home from work that day. I found the pattern on EnchantedLearning.com.

And last is our K snack: a kiwi shared by Bauer and Cash, who shared a dislike for the fruit as well (this picture was before Bauer had tasted it).

Oh, I just realized we’ll start M on Monday and Gigi bought Bauer some little packets of M&Ms for him to have on Memorial Day. That’s sweet!

These are some pictures from almost two weeks ago. TJ and Bauer built a snowman after lunch on a Saturday. Bauer finally got to use the snowman accessories that Gigi gave him for Christmas.

Our snowman is still standing, even though it’s 47 degrees out today. All of the accessories had fallen off, save the hat, but Bauer remedied that today when he came from from Parents Day Out.

Now on to other truly random stuff from lately….

I finished copying down all the parts of Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years that I had underlined. Now TJ says he wants to read the book again. It’s that good.

My first attempt at homemade bread was less than stellar. I made the “Almost No-Work Whole Grain Bread” from Mark Bittman’s book Food Matters. It truly was almost no work, but I think I shouldn’t have added quinoa to the dough. It just made the bread a little too crunchy. Also I should have oiled the loaf pan even more; I thought I was using plenty of oil, but half of the bottom crust stayed in the pan when I turned the loaf out. Rather than use the bread for sandwiches as I had hoped, we’ll probably have it on the side with our dinner tonight. I will try again soon.

TJ and I celebrated his birthday recently with a trip to downtown Chicago. We left our kids with some good friends and made the long trek on a Friday evening to our favorite restaurant in these parts. Bandera! We got our usual fare of house veggie burgers and TJ used his iPhone to take pictures of our meals.

TJ got his burger with mashed potatoes.

And I had the amazing peanut coleslaw.

After dinner, we went shopping at The North Face Store on Michigan Avenue, so that TJ could pick out and purchase a winter jacket. I had secretly emailed some of our family members, asking if anyone who was planning to give TJ money for his birthday would be willing to give toward the purchase of the jacket. I heard back from several people and was able to surprise TJ over dinner by telling him we could go buy a jacket for him. It was fun going into the store that night, knowing we were there to buy. TJ found just what he was looking for but I have no picture to show you. Later that night, we watched the movie Slumdog Millionaire, which I had rented from the library for $1 and which after seeing the movie, I would paid $20 for a story that good. It was nice having a night without the kids, but knowing they were in such good hands with our friends. Bauer was asking this morning (a week later) when he can go back to their house. The reason he was asking is because we were having waffles for breakfast and Bauer loves the Aunt Jemima syrup that he got to have at Branton’s house.

I got an iPhone yesterday. That’s pretty exciting. I am liking plenty about it, but haven’t yet figured out to use it with one hand like I could with my other phone. The church where TJ works recently switched cell phone providers and when AT&T was decided upon, the iPhone for TJ was also decided upon. I’m an add-on to TJ’s plan so I  could have gotten the iPhone too. But I decided to go with the Samsung Magnet because it was cheaper and I didn’t really think I needed all the extra capabilities, but after a month of TJ seeing me text on that little thing, he decided enough was enough. He really wanted me to enjoy the greatness of the freakin-awesome iPhone, as he would say, and now I thank him for it. So that’s that.

I got some godly sorrow this week too. It was good how God led me to that through a number of things all on the same day. I have been reading a book called Grooming the Next Generation for Success. I have some mixed feelings about the book so far, but I have definitely been convicted to be more intentional about what we are or are not doing as we train Bauer and Cash for the future. Then there was a phone call I had with my friend Jaime about some of our children’s behavior recently, coupled with a long email I received from my friend Gretchen about things they are doing to groom their children for success, that made me realize how short I have fallen from being the kind of parent God wants me to be and that I know I want to be. I found myself that day and night telling God how sorry I was for not being better, but there was also a lot of hope in my prayer, knowing that God is going to help me remember and help me change. I have noticed a difference in myself in the past two days in the way I interact with Bauer on the little things and I am truly grateful for God being at work in my life.

I am also kinda grateful the Olympics are over. We enjoyed them, don’t get me wrong. We had the TV on probably every night but two. But the Olympics were totally cramping my style with Arts Hour. I couldn’t focus on reading when we had the excitement of the Olympics to watch all the time. But now that it’s over, I want to get back to some good old-fashioned reading. Anybody wanna recommend a great story?

Last but not least, it seems to me that MealBaby is picking up some momentum. We have a new developer and are in the process of making some updates and changes to the site. Please recommend the site to anyone you know who needs meals delivered. We might even see about getting a MealBaby app for the iPhone. How cool would that be?

My little man, Cash, loves playing with the little men from the Lego sets we have. He will walk around holding them in his hand for a long time. I have to pry them out of his little paws when it’s his naptime, but then I distract him by letting him flip the light switch on and off a couple times and he forgets that he was upset. Works like a charm every time.

We had a great time on Saturday morning attending the birthday party of one of Bauer’s friends. We all met at the fire station in Oswego and took an hour long tour, which included lots of free time for the kids to climb and explore the big fire trucks. Then we went to Portillo’s for lunch, where Bauer truly enjoyed having some meat (and french fries). After the party, Bauer kept exclaiming how that was the best time he’d ever had. I think it was one of the highlights of his life so far. You should have seen how his face lit up when he first climbed aboard the vintage fire truck in the lobby. It only got better from there. You’ll see what I mean when you take a look at the following pictures.

Did you notice Bauer’s and Cash’s Vancouver 2010 shirts they were wearing that day? Nana and Papa got those for them for Christmas and we thought they’d be especially appropriate on Saturday since that is when the Olympics started. We (especially TJ) are enjoying the Olympics a lot so far. The Olympics holds a special place in TJ’s heart since he was in the opening ceremonies of the ‘88 Calgary Olympics. He said he still has the electric blue costume to prove it! I have yet to see it, but I have seen the up close footage of him performing his part in the opening ceremonies. So I can vouch for the story. He’s just now telling me he is going to put up the video of him on the blog. So stay tuned for that!

You may also have noticed that yes, I’m eating a Portillo’s Italian beef sandwich in those last couple of pictures above. Yum, yum! I just couldn’t think about whether those cows had happy lives or not (you’ll know what I mean if you have seen the movie Food Inc). I just had to go for it and enjoy it this time. The Oreo dirt cake with gummy worms was pretty good too!

Last night the strangest thing happened to me. I have been feeling bad for almost a week now and I thought it was just a cold, but then yesterday I had started to think maybe it’s a sinus infection from how much pressure I was feeling on the right side of my head and how stuffy my right nostril had continued to be. TJ and I had just settled down to watch the first episode of the new season of LOST and I noticed my back was starting to hurt. I thought maybe it was because I was sitting in a different chair than usual, or just that I was turning my head to see the TV. I moved to my usual chair where I sit to read (that never makes me hurt!) and I even turned the chair to face the TV so I wouldn’t have to turn my head, but the pain just continued to get worse and worse.

Then around 9:45, I started feeling this awful ache in the left side of my body. It is hard to describe how it felt, but along with the achiness I also started shaking, sort of like a chill came over me and I couldn’t warm myself up. Fifteen minutes later, just as LOST was ending, I was in complete tears, feeling like there is something majorly wrong with me and why can’t I relax? What is going on that is making my back and left side hurt so much? Why can’t I stop shaking? My whole body felt tense and miserable and I was truly thinking I might end up in the hospital if things didn’t improve. I had no idea how I was ever going to get to sleep, and I knew that sleep was one of my greatest needs at this point as I had been up since 3 am due to not being able to sleep the night before from all the congestion in my head. I even wondered if this whole episode was my body’s reaction to not getting enough rest this last week, even though I’ve tried! I never knew that breathing through my nose had so much to do with me sleeping, but it obviously does.

Well, I decided I should try to make it to the bed and see if that would ease any of the pain, so TJ helped me get up off the couch and begin moving. I was like a zombie, walking with my eyes closed. I felt like this must be how a person with a migraine just goes into a dark room to just be in there until things pass and they can get on with life. Once I got situated on the bed on my right side (the non-hurting side), TJ got warm covers for me. Then I asked TJ to just put his arm around me and put pressure against my body. That was the only thing that helped at all, just having the pressure to keep me from shaking as badly.

I was just laying there, all stuffy, crying, shaking, aching, not knowing what is going on, what is taking over my body. And then TJ started praying for me. When he was done and we were silent for a few minutes, TJ began saying that this could be our enemy the devil’s attempt to stop the good things God has been doing in my life. I truly have been blessed again and again lately with things I feel like God is allowing me to see about life, and the real reality, through the book I am reading called Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr. That would be a whole other story to tell, and I will in time. But the main thing that’s happening to me is that I’m getting free! I am letting go! I am becoming less and more all at the same time! TJ began praying again, this time against what the devil would possibly be up to in my life. He spoke the name of Jesus which is always the most powerful name to speak. As TJ prayed this second prayer, I felt the strangest most peaceful calm come over my body. The pain in my back subsided and the shaking stopped. Stopped! I was able to lay there calmly and begin to rest. I also began to see firsthand that what is, is the great teacher (that’s from Rohr’s book).

Once God answered like that, I felt such a desire to praise him. So I prayed for a bit, and after that, TJ and I began to talk. We just lay there on the bed, talking, and it was as if time had stopped. It didn’t matter to me at that point if it was 10:30 or midnight. All that mattered was that TJ was there for me and I was going to be okay.

TJ was there for me. He was really truly there. And that counted for so much. As I lay there thinking, I imagined me in the place of TJ, and Bauer in the place of me. I imagined myself thinking about all the things I’d rather be doing than just being here with Bauer. I imagined how I would feel like I was being hindered from accomplishing tasks. Then I thought of myself and TJ in the current situation, and how it so strongly felt like what TJ was doing by being there with me, just resting with me and staying with me, was something huge. It counted so much and I don’t know how to say it differently than that. I feel like I was able to see how Bauer’s needing me to be with him, in times of sickness or sadness or childness (which would just mean daily), is a need that counts just as much as any task I could do. It is huge and thank God, some scales finally came off my eyes to let me see that.

God taught me so much through that hour and a half long experience last night. There’s a line in Rohr’s book that says, Have you been loved well by someone? I know last night that I was loved well by TJ. I let him love me and it felt good to be so needy that that is all you can do, just let yourself be loved. I do not have much experience with this in life because I have lived with the belief that as long as I feel good about myself, it doesn’t matter what others think of me, whether they like me or not (and like could just as easily be called love in this sense). Well, I am beginning to see that it does matter about others because letting them love me is a very good start to letting God love me.

Did you notice the second meaning in that question about being loved well? It’s as if God love for me and TJ’s love for me are what made me well last night. Well in body and a lot more well in soul and spirit than I’ve been in a long time.

This evening I am doing a lot better. I got some Afrin nasal spray and my, oh, my – how did I not know about this stuff sooner! I recently mentioned to TJ that I was thinking maybe I should take a week off from working out, but little did I know that was practically going to happen by default. Only this afternoon did I start thinking how nice it sounded to go outside and take the boys for a walk in the stroller. I told Bauer we could walk over to the train station after Cash’s nap, but I didn’t know Cash was going to sleep till 4:45 – a solid 3 hours! We ended up not being able to go, but I think I might be up for a walk tomorrow morning.

While Cash was sleeping, Bauer and I did some things in the kitchen. First I cut up veggies to go in our chili tonight while Bauer pretended to cook his playdough pancakes in a pot on the stove. Then we washed grapes. Bauer did a good deal of the separating of the grapes from the stems and all of the hands-in-the-water washing.

Yes, I resorted to the "don't smile" technique and it worked!

While Bauer was busy with the grapes, I decided to make the chocolate pudding recipe my friend Hannah shared with me a while back. It’s not your typical pudding – it’s made with avocados! – but I really thought it would be good since I used similar ingredients for the eggless chocolate cupcakes I made for the boys’ birthday party last fall. If nothing else, I figured I could tell Bauer it was yogurt and that is a kid that loves yogurt. I have had to explain to him recently why we don’t buy yogurt. He knows some of his friends get yogurt and he often asks for yogurt if he sees it at the store. My explanation was something to the effect that some people use cow’s milk and some people don’t. I did promise him, though, that we’d look into yogurt made from soy, almond, rice or coconut milk at Whole Foods. So many options!

So, back to my pudding…It was just 3 ingredients: 2 avocados, 1 cup dates, and 1/2 cup cocoa powder. Put everything in the food processor and let it do the work!

My food processor is usually the bomb, but on this I just couldn’t seem to get the pudding smooth enough. I’m not sure if it was because the dates I used were a little on the hard side or what. I kept blending and blending but finally decided enough was enough. Bauer wanted a taste (and then another) and I kept asking him if it was chewy. He seemed to like it, but we’ll see if that’s still the case tomorrow when he can actually taste things (I don’t know why I didn’t think of the fact that neither of us would even know if we liked it with our stuffy noses, but oh well….) When TJ got home tonight, Bauer was excited to show him our creation, which he kept calling “chocolate stuffing.” I guess that’s a little more accurate with our noses anyway.

My mom visited us last week from Tuesday through Saturday. It was great having her here. She played with the boys lots, washed all the dirty dishes (my hands thank her), and gave TJ and I some nice time out. It was also a blessing to have her here during the time of Bauer’s sickness, although I know she wasn’t planning to be wiping yucky noses so much.

Bauer came down with croup the Sunday after Christmas. We were all doing well, relaxing after all the Christmas excitement, and then around 1 am Sunday night, Bauer woke up calling for TJ. We thought he was having an awful allergic reaction to something because he was having a lot of difficulty breathing and seemed to be trying to throw up. TJ administered the Epipen and then called 911. Two ambulances, one fire truck, and six paramedics were on the scene in less than 5 minutes. They gave Bauer an albuterol breathing treatment and indicated that it looked to be either an asthma attack or croup. The ambulance took Bauer and TJ to the hospital so Bauer could be checked by the doctors there. Turns out he had croup! I had no idea about croup, which I now know is a sickness caused by a virus that creates inflammation around the voicebox and windpipes and causes that awful barking cough. Thankfully it is pretty resolvable on its own and we didn’t have to do any medication, other than what they did that night of the first attack. Although it was a scary incident, I am glad it was not an allergic reaction or asthma, both of which are not quite as easily remedied.

The next few nights were still a little rough for both Bauer and TJ (whom Bauer always calls in the night), but both of them were super troopers through it all. My mom was always at the ready as well. Cash seems to have gotten the germs from Bauer and has had a yucky nose and a yucky cough (but thankfully not the barking cough nor any interrupted nights to speak of) for several days now.

Here are a few more pictures of Gigi, Bauer, and Cash, and then a couple of me and TJ hanging out with our friends on New Year’s Eve.

Okay, so I know it’s not about what we got for Christmas, but I still enjoy telling someone. Plus, it’s fun to show some of TJ’s work in pictures.

I’m going to pick up where I left off on the other post, after the MathStart books.

Bauer had just helped Cash open this Baby Einstein Take-Along Tunes music player. And yes, I picked out their Christmas morning clothes. Otherwise, Bauer would have worn his Slinky Pants again and who knows what shirt.

Cash loves music just like his brother. And look how this thing lights up!

Cash also loves having his very own Sigg water bottle that Gigi picked out for him. I don’t love that he drinks so much water from his Sigg that his wet diaper soaks through his clothes!

Two thumbs up on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics gear from TJ’s parents. TJ got a touque, I got mittens, and the boys each got cool long-sleeve t-shirts.

Cash likes the touque too.

Look at that face. Thanks, Nana, for the magnetic Cars, Plains, and Trains set.

We had to take a break for breakfast, but that didn’t mean the fun had to stop. Not much eating took place on Bauer’s end.

Cash, however, was all about the banana-oatmeal bars and of course, his smoothie. Thankfully he has started drinking from a straw and I can now give him his own smoothie each morning.

Back to the presents: Cash got a Fisher-Price farm set from Nana and Papa, which reminded me of Bauer’s John Deere tractor set when he was about the same age.

John Deere wasn’t left out of the mix this year because Bauer received a little John Deere carry-all with wooden handle from MaryMa and Granddaddy Lambert (his great-grandparents).

This is Bauer hugging his ABC stamp set from Gigi. He is thrilled to be able to do just what he wants with his stamps, even if it’s stamping them on top of one another (something I’d never let him do with my letter stamps).

What would Christmas be without books? Here, Bauer was pretty excited to get the Cynthia Rylant book Alligator Boy from his cousin Chase. Chase gave Cash Puppies and Piggies, also by Rylant. We are huge fans of hers, so those were two great picks!

Two other great picks were from TJ to me and Bauer. Both were books by one of my favorite authors, Alexander McCall Smith, who I just read a great newspaper article about that informed me he likes to be called Sandy. The books are The Girl Who Married a Lion (for me) and The Perfect Hamburger and Other Delicious Stories (for Bauer, but really for me to read first because I love Sandy so much, and then to read to Bauer).

Cash also got a book from TJ, that I knew nothing about. It’s the Bright Baby First 100 Words and it’s been a lot of fun already pointing to the bright colors and saying the words to Cash. He seems to really like the bathtime page.

My sis Holly gave Bauer a book by another of my favorite authors (hmmm, wonder who wanted that one?). Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s newest addition to her line of Cookies books is Sugar Cookies: Sweet Little Lessons on Love.

We haven’t quite finished our ABC verses for this year (Bauer just finished learning the T verse) but now we’ll have lots more to choose from on our next go-around with My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt.

The Jesus Storybook Bible’s subtitle is “Every Story Whispers His Name,” and I love the idea of reading the Bible to Bauer (or myself) with that mindset.

And the book that wins the prize is Ginger Turns 30! created by TJ on blurb.com. It is a hard copy of my birthday blog, and it is amazing. See for yourself!

I love that TJ knows what I love.

My sister knows what I love too. No, not Hope (although I do love that). I love the PINK t-shirts from Victoria’s Secret. I especially love the color blue that this shirt is.

The shirt says it all.

One of Bauer’s favorite gifts was this Melissa & Doug Magnetic Responsibility Chart, given to him by my grandmother and aunt and uncle (the Hilton Head clan). He has had so much fun deciding which chores will be his weekly chores, and I hope this is going to work a bit better for keeping track than the sticker method we were using and forgetting to use.

Here’s the aftermath and that’s before all the presents were even open. Bauer was still doling them out at this point.

Now we are officially done, and all Cash has to say is I love these new stockings my mom made, don’t you?

This year for Christmas, we wanted to do something different than we’d ever done before.

TJ and I remember so clearly one of Tim Sutherland’s messages at church last year about how he wants his two boys to leave home knowing that Christmas is about serving the poor, and that is what we want for Bauer and Cash (and ourselves, too!). For a few months prior to Christmas, our small group had been looking for a place to serve people in need on Christmas Day. We figured there was no better way to get the message across to our children that Christmas is not about getting stuff than to actually go out on Christmas Day and do something to help others.

We had the fabulous opportunity to partner with New Community Ministries, and after many hours of planning and preparation, we were able to do just what we envisioned our Christmas Day would look like, both for us and for those being served.  Not only did we involve our small group but we also emailed a bunch of our friends, many of whom were eager to get in on the action too.

Volunteers representing over 30 different families prepared food, purchased turkeys and hams, collected non-perishable food, donated toys and gift cards, collected boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables, and gave it all away to families living in poverty or in severe crisis situations (cancer, risk of losing home). Each “Secret Santa” family was assigned a child or children to purchase for. Nine of the families who purchased gifts or donated food were able to take part in making the deliveries on Christmas Day.

What a great day we had!

We met at COMMUNITY at 10 am to sort the toys and non-perishable food into boxes for each family. Then we had a group prayer, loaded the “Santa Bus” and vans, and were off by 11 am. We did a big loop from Naperville to Plainfield and back, making 6 stops in all, and delivering food and gifts to ten different families. We arrived back to the church around 3:30 pm with some tired kids, but it was definitely worth it!

One of the most touching stops was at a motel in Plainfield, where five of the families we served live. These families were so grateful to receive all the gifts and food. A single mom who has a learning disability and is unable to work, was so happy she started crying when she was given a prepaid cell phone. There were tears and hugs and laughs and to top it all off, it started snowing these huge picture-perfect Christmas snowflakes right as we were all standing outside delivering everything to them. I personally felt like they were giving me a gift by letting me experience the joy of reaching out and being in a place I imagine Jesus would want to be on Christmas Day.

Here we are sorting all the toys and non-perishable food items into boxes. These would soon be loaded on the bus to go along with the prepared Christmas dinners to be given to each family.

Santa Claus (a.k.a. the likable Henry Heller) was very well-received by all the children, including our own kids, at the different stops.  That’s Bauer in the gray coat on the left of Santa.

Santa handed out gifts to the young kids and teenagers alike.

We were able to pray for some of the families after giving them their gifts and boxes of food.

Here we are at the motel just before the snow began to fall. Tears of joy may have already begun falling at this point.

Here’s one of the families our family helped to buy for. It was great having our kids give to kids just like them.

We took a group photo after our last stop. Some of the families making deliveries had to leave before we got to all the stops, so next year, we should take the group picture after our first stop!

We’re on the bus, heading back to our starting point. Tired baby, happy Mom.

Thank you, God, for such a wonderful day. We are so rich with friends and so blessed that we were able to spend the day with them doing something for others. May this be only the beginning for us.