"NOTEBOOK! NOTEBOOK!"

In case you don't remember from my previous post, Blues Clues is Jacobs newest favorite show. So for Easter this year, we wanted to put the Blues Clues notebook in Jacobs Easter basket. I found them on ebay for like $75-$100.00. I said ummmmm no…. So then I looked on Amazon and for $25.00 they had a Blue beanie baby and the notebook. So we bought that for Jacob. I didn’t know why it was so cheap but when we got it, it was NOT the notebook that was pictured. It was a little notebook shaped like a chair. We didn’t have time to send it back or even complain (yes I waited until last minute to buy it), so we gave it to him. He, of course, LOVED it. He carried it around day and night and carried crayons with it. He was as happy as could be….so I thought.

On Sunday my brother told Jacob that he bought him a present. I had no idea what it was. On Tuesday we went over to my brothers house and he gave him an envelope to open. Inside was the GENUINE notebook, straight from Blues Clues. It was the notebook that Steve has, the square one with the picture of the Thinking Chair on the front.

Jacob took it out of the package and went WILD!!!! He was so unbelievably happy to receive this notebook. He started screaming and saying “Notebook! Notebook!” Honestly, I can’t even do justice to describe how excited he was to get this notebook. He asked me to open it up and he hasn’t put it down since then. This of course made my brother his new best friend. On the way out of his house, Jacob said “Goo-Bye Uncle Rob!” (He RARELY says his name let alone a whole sentence with “Uncle Rob” in it….even now I ask him who got him his notebook and he says “Uncle Rob and Ti-Ti.”

Tuesday night he slept with his notebook. For about an hour over the monitor we heard him talking about clues and his notebook. The first thing he said when he woke up Tuesday morning was “Mom, Where’s my notebook?” He cries everytime we leave the house when I don’t let him take his notebook with him. He again slept with his notebook last night. This morning when he came in he brought his notebook and asked to watch Blues Clues. He now “draws” the clues with Steve in his notebook.

Unfortunately, I have honestly NEVER seen him so excited about anything. It was so exciting for me to see him so excited about this notebook. So today, I give thanks for my brother and sister-in-law. Their thoughtfulness brings tears to my eyes (of course I am pregnant so I do tend to cry a lot easier now). It was so kind of them to buy this notebook for him. His joy about this notebook is valued at well over the $75.00-$100.00 it cost on ebay (not that I would EVER pay that much for this notebook….and my brother said he didn’t pay that much either) but I do think if we could see how excited he would have gotten about this notebook, both us and my brother and sister-in-law would seriously contemplate purchasing it at that price, just because of how happy he was to get it. So, with all my heart….THANKS!

Major Milestone

Today I hit a MAJOR milestone. After 18 ultrasounds, 15 progesterone shots, 9 lbs and what I can only think is well over 35 (not at all an exaggeration) trips to the dr, I hit 30 weeks!!!!!!! YAY me!!!!! This has been an incredible journey thus far.

God in his pure graciousness has protected me and Lyla Jane tremendously. There have been so many ups and downs and all I can think is that God has this whole pregnancy in his hands and is in complete control of it. It seems so silly that I actually spent nights crying in fear of losing another baby. It’s amazing what Satan will use to turn your eyes off Gods greatness and shake your faith.

Now (and for a while now) I can feel the baby moving around in there what seems like constantly. What an incredible reminder of how awesome God is. Pregnancy amazes me start to finish. We have ALWAYS had a hard time getting pregnant and I think that people who can get pregnant (seemingly) at the drop of a hat, never really have to contemplate all the things that HAVE to go right in order to sustain a pregnancy. But, all-in-all, it has to do with one thing. God. God is the master behind all of it. No pregnancy is too tough or too “high-risk” for God.

God, in his infinite wisdom, has granted women the ability to create and carry a baby in their bodies. God, has allowed women the joy of feeling, for probably at least 5 months, their baby kick and squirm and even have the hiccups. In my opinion, no words can express the feeling of that baby moving around in there. There is no way to even do justice to it when I try to describe it to Jonathan. Putting your hand on my belly and feeling the baby kick does not even come close to comparing to the actual feeling of it.

We are so excited about this baby. Jacob picked her name out. Out of our list of 4 names he picked out Lyla Jane. However, I was talking to him the other day because Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper (from Blue's Clues) had a baby (Cinnamon), and I said “Jacob, Mommy’s going to have a baby” and he said “Oh no!” So hopefully he’ll like the baby better when she gets here. And when he feels the baby move, he asks if my tummy is hungry.

Jonathan on the other hand has maybe felt the baby move twice. Every single time the baby is moving I tell Jonathan to feel her…and she stops moving completely….every single time. So hopefully she’ll like him better when she gets here. :)

So as of right now, 30 weeks, my blood pressure is great, my weight gain is great, my blood sugar level is fantastic and really everything is looking wonderful. I am still on my restricted activity and still taking my progesterone shots, but, all in all, we’re having what seems to be a pretty normal pregnancy (with the exception of going to the dr once or twice a week…which is down from two to three times a week). We’re all hanging in there. I’m a bit uncomfortable and having some hard times sleeping but we’re hanging in there. Most importantly, Lyla is hanging in there and hopefully she’ll be hanging in there for at least 6 more weeks. (only 6 weeks….can you believe it?!?!?!?)

So, today I’m thankful for a loving, caring God. A God who comforts and protects. A God who gave me the ability, that so many woman don’t have, the ability to get pregnant and carry out a pregnancy (though I have some problems and need a little assistance). And a God who I know will work out this pregnancy out for His good.

Everyday Heroes

Let me preface my story with some recent background. Lately, Jacob has turned against his best friend (Handy Manny) and become enamored with Blues Clues. Everything is Blues Clues now. When we drive down the street, he is so observant and spots every single vet office because they usually have a paw print on them somewhere and he yells “MOM A CLUE!!! Do you see a clue?!?!” He puts books on the floor and sings “Blue ska-doo we can too” and does a flip onto the book. When the mail comes he screams “MAAAAAIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (and does jazz hands, like Steve does when the mail comes on the show).

But, most importantly (pertaining to this story), he carries a notebook around with him where ever he goes now. All of a sudden he’s such high maintenance. He always loses his notebook or his crayon and we have to search around the house to look for it…and he’s getting specific as to which notebook he wants now. I’m telling you HIGH MAINTENANCE!!!

About 2 weeks ago Jonathan had a t-shirt on from The Disney Cruise we went on for our honeymoon. On the back, all the characters have signed their names. Pluto signed with a blue paw print (which brings up the ever-pressing question as to why Goofy can write his name but Pluto can only stamp a paw print…but that has absolutely nothing to do with this story). The kid went WILD!!!! “A clue dad you have a clue. Where’s my notebook….where’s my crayon?!?! Mom where’s my notebook.?!?!?!? There’s a clue!!!” So we quickly found his notebook so he could keep track of this clue.

Here’s where the real “everyday heroes” comes into play. Actually, I guess it would technically be "everyday heroines." The other day, we were watching Blues Clues together and the clue was a cup. Jacob had out his notebook and was scribbling in it (like he usually does). So I said "Jacob you have to draw the clue like Steve does." I figured I could draw a cup. So I said "Jacob look, watch mom draw it." So I took his notebook and I drew a cup. He was SO impressed. He clapped and screamed “Good Job Mom!” (which cracks me up every time he tells us “good job”)

At this point, I decided to show off a little and draw Periwinkle, the cat. She is, after-all, just a circle and some triangles. He screamed and jumped up and down…. “Mom you did it!!!! YAY Mom….Good job”

He then proceeded to ask me to draw Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper. After each one he got so excited that I did it. Then he asked me to draw Pail and Shovel. He screamed and yelled and jumped on me and gave me a hug. “You did it mom! Good job!” This was, by far, my proudest day as a parent. I was so excited!!!

So that day, I was thankful for EASY to draw characters, which made it possible to impress my son with my sub-par artistic ability. I am also thankful for a little man who gets so excited about little things. But most importantly, I am thankful for my son whose gift is obviously encouragement. I sincerely hope that as he gets older, he holds tight to that spiritual gift and continues to uplift people and brighten their day by making them feel better about even the smallest things they accomplish.

As a side note, he then asked me to draw Blue. BOMB!!!!! I have no clue how to draw Blue. I am still working on that one.

He's Brilliant!!!!

So in our sons room, in addition to his toddler (fire truck) bed, there was a twin bed. On Wednesday when I went in to get him, he said "Ma'ma! I nigh-nigh!" and pointed at the twin bed. I looked up and noticed my little man took his pillow and cover off his little bed and at that point I realized what he was trying to say was "Mom I slept in this even bigger bed!" I'm not sure if he realizes how difficult it was for me to let him sleep in the toddler bed...but now he's wanting to sleep in a twin bed?!?!?!

About a month or so ago, we offered my mom that same twin bed and finally on Saturday night my husband moved it out to her house.

Sunday morning I was awakened by my little man saying, in an oh-so-distraught voice, "Ma-ma!!! Uh-oh!!! Uh-oh Ma-ma!!!" repeatedly.

So I went in his room and asked him what was wrong. He was standing where the twin bed used to be. He said "Uh-oh Ma-ma...no nigh-nigh!!!" Which meant only one thing....my son is a GENIUS!!!! He realized that this bed is missing from his room. What a proud moment as a mother to realize your kid is brilliant...but it gets better. I know. Big deal right?!? How could he not notice it was gone...wait for it....

The amazing feat happened later that day when I took him to my moms house. I went to put him for his nap and he saw his bed. He said, in an utterly excited tone, "Ooooooh Ma-ma Jacob Nigh-Nigh!!!!" See?!?! He's BRILLIANT!!!!! He noticed it was the bed from his room.

Every single day, even the unbelievably exhausting ones, I thank God for my son. He was a bear before birth and shockingly, he can still be a bear sometimes now, but oh man, it's these silly times that I LOVE being a mom.

So today, I thank God for the job of being a mom. My sister in law told me just the other day that she loves the way he says "Mommy." I couldn't agree more. It melts my heart everytime.

Tap Tap Revolution

So last night, my husband downloaded Tap Tap Revenge on his iPod Touch. I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it but, it’s the finger version of Dance Dance Revolution. Any way, he downloaded it, and me being the arrogant/competitive person that I am, decided I knew I was totally going to beat my husband at this, so I say, “Lets have a contest.” After all, my husband has probably beaten me at one thing in the 7 years we’ve been together. I think we raced to the car one night after I gorged myself at dinner and he won that. But, other than that, I don’t think there has been anything, so, I’m pretty sure I’ve got this in the bag….I’m sure you all know where this is going.

So I take his iPod and I play first. This is the first time either of us had ever played. My score is a whopping 29,800 with 97% accuracy. I’m pumped!!!! I said “ok your turn.”

He says, “I don’t know why we’re doing this. We both know I’m going to do terrible.”

I encourage him, “You’ll do fine. Just play.” (thinking I know you’re going to stink it up let’s just get it over with so I can do my victory dance.)

He plays and guess what??!?!?! His score is 38,600. But his accuracy was only 67%….

So today, I thank God for multiple criteria.

So, here’s another tragic but much less important mini milestone in my life. My son, not even 2, is now sleeping in his very own big boy bed. How could it be?!?!?! How could he want to grow up so fast? Doesn’t he want to always stay mamas little boy? It doesn’t seem so. It also doesn’t seem that anyone else is having such a rough time with this as I am. My husband is excited for our son, and our son…well he LOVES his big boy bed. We got him one of those huge plastic fire truck beds. It has a light on the top, which he loves to turn on. He has adjusted extremely well to the new surroundings.

For about the past month, he has been jumping out of his crib every morning now. It happened one morning while I was sitting on the foot of my bed, after I had just woken up, trying to get up the strength to make it in to his room and get him out of his crib when all of a sudden his mischievous little face popped through my bedroom door, with a HUGE heart melting smile on it. “WHAT?!?!?!? How did you get in here?” My life hasn’t been the same since then.

We decided it was time (actually my husband decided and talked me into it being time) to move him into his new bed. So one afternoon while he napped, we took down his crib (he was sleeping in our bed, which is a milestone in-and-of itself) and put up his fire truck bed. We bought him 2 Disney Cars posters, a Disney Cars stop light lamp, a hamper and two sets of Cars sheets. When he woke up from his nap, he came into his new wonderland and was amazed and excited to see this new fascination.
Now, every morning I get woken up with the sound of him trying to turn his door knob, which he still can’t open, and escape his room. Thank God for the little things….old door knobs that are still toddler proof.

Mini milestones….what does that mean to you? It has been a month since we suffered the loss of a great friend of ours. It’s horribly sad. A 29 year old man with a young bride and a baby girl. Thoughts go through my head constantly, wondering if he knew how much we really loved him and his family. Thinking about how much I could have and should have been a better friend to him.

I have been praying constantly for this woman and her child. Wondering how they are going to make it. They can only make it by the grace of our loving God. Knowing that all things are for his glory and this horribly tragic thing is from God. We as humans aren’t capable of understanding why this happened. But we know through faith that our God is in complete control of this situation and his ever loving, ever guiding hand is once again, going to continue to lead, guide and up-lift all those that hurt because of this.

Life will continue to go on, we will continue to have mini milestones, and the memory of our friend will be all that we have left. So, as friends of Phil Penner, let’s do that. Let’s make sure we keep the memories alive. Let’s make sure his baby girl grows up to know what an incredible guy her father was. How her father loved the unlovable and cared for everyone. How this man was funny and kind and loving and someone who just really personified a Christ-like heart and attitude.

So, as this family is living what I would consider one of my biggest nightmares, I will keep on praying for them.