Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Sunday, November 01, 2009
1DoH: Halloween
This week starts with the 33rd of the "100 Days of Holidays," which means we're one third of the way through the fall-Thanksgiving-Christmas season! It's such a fun time. This week, of course, included Kate's first Halloween. As with all of this year's special events and holidays, she didn't really know what the point was, of course, but we had fun celebrating these milestones and the general joy of the season.
33) Monday 10/26: I have been wanting to make spaghetti and meatballs for a while. I've made spaghetti before, of course (though not in a while) but I've never made meatballs. They turned out pretty well, I think. Matt really liked them, and they even had some diced zucchini in them, so Kate got to have some finger-food zucchini with her dinner.
34) Tuesday 10/27: We did a fun photo shoot of Kate (and Marcel) with the pumpkins on our front porch, and with some bananas for our little monkey.
35) Wednesday, 10/28: Kate turned 9 months old today, so we took her monthly Marcel picture. They are getting harder and harder each month, as she won't just sit there with him anymore--she grabs him and eats his head, or tries to crawl off the chair.
36) Thursday, 10/29: Kate's been eating finger foods for a month or more now, and is always very interested in what we're eating. She even stole my half-eaten apple and started nomming on it. I think she was able to scrape some of the fruit off with her two little bottom teeth, but the whole thing was definitely slobbery enough that I didn't eat any more of it!
37) Friday 10/30: Kate took her first steps!! She took up to three steps all on her own, and it was very exciting. She's still learning how to balance herself, though, and was much more confident when holding even one of our hands. We walked hand in hand across the room at a pretty decent pace.
38) Saturday, 10/31: Halloween! Here's Kate all ready to hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters. I think her favorite part of Halloween was mashing Reese cups (still in the wrapper) in each hand.
39) Sunday 11/1: Most of my fall decorations are season-generic pumpkins, leaves, etc., but I did trade out a few specifically-Halloween items for specifically-Thanksgiving decorations today. I can't believe it's November!
This week, we're off to New Orleans for my cousin's wedding! We'll miss Kate a lot, of course, as she stays home with her grandparents coming up to care for her, but it should be a lot of fun!
33) Monday 10/26: I have been wanting to make spaghetti and meatballs for a while. I've made spaghetti before, of course (though not in a while) but I've never made meatballs. They turned out pretty well, I think. Matt really liked them, and they even had some diced zucchini in them, so Kate got to have some finger-food zucchini with her dinner.
34) Tuesday 10/27: We did a fun photo shoot of Kate (and Marcel) with the pumpkins on our front porch, and with some bananas for our little monkey.
35) Wednesday, 10/28: Kate turned 9 months old today, so we took her monthly Marcel picture. They are getting harder and harder each month, as she won't just sit there with him anymore--she grabs him and eats his head, or tries to crawl off the chair. 
36) Thursday, 10/29: Kate's been eating finger foods for a month or more now, and is always very interested in what we're eating. She even stole my half-eaten apple and started nomming on it. I think she was able to scrape some of the fruit off with her two little bottom teeth, but the whole thing was definitely slobbery enough that I didn't eat any more of it!
37) Friday 10/30: Kate took her first steps!! She took up to three steps all on her own, and it was very exciting. She's still learning how to balance herself, though, and was much more confident when holding even one of our hands. We walked hand in hand across the room at a pretty decent pace.
38) Saturday, 10/31: Halloween! Here's Kate all ready to hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters. I think her favorite part of Halloween was mashing Reese cups (still in the wrapper) in each hand.
39) Sunday 11/1: Most of my fall decorations are season-generic pumpkins, leaves, etc., but I did trade out a few specifically-Halloween items for specifically-Thanksgiving decorations today. I can't believe it's November!
This week, we're off to New Orleans for my cousin's wedding! We'll miss Kate a lot, of course, as she stays home with her grandparents coming up to care for her, but it should be a lot of fun!Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monkey See?
That is, do you want to see pictures of our little monkey in her Halloween costume?
And finally, from the Fall Festival the other night, I like to call this "Curious Kate and the Mom in the Yellow Hat."
And finally, from the Fall Festival the other night, I like to call this "Curious Kate and the Mom in the Yellow Hat."
The End.
(the end has a pretty cute, curly tail, don't you think?)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Nine Months In, Nine Months Out
Kate is nine months old today, which means she has been outside the womb about as long as she was in! While still my little baby, she also seems like such a "big girl" now (big girl being relative, of course). These last two months have been huge for her, developmentally, as she has learned to pull up, cruise, crawl (in that order), and feed herself finger foods.Now, at nine months, she is:
- cruising easily and even walking with a push-toy
- standing unassisted for a few seconds
- getting close to walking unassisted
- on the verge of waving (right now it's more like a "heil")
- eating three meals of solids (oatmeal, yogurt, fruit/veggie puree, etc.) in addition to four bottles a day (though she's taking less in each bottle--down from 8 oz. to just 4-7).
- eating a wide variety of finger foods (puffs, macaroni, banana, peaches, string cheese, peas, carrots, bread, and zucchini)
- wearing size 2-3 diapers
- wearing size 6-12 mo. clothes (Gymboree and Gap size things with that wide range, Carter's just with 9 mo.)
- wearing shoes on a regular basis
- sleeping around 10-11 hours at night (she's been doing 10 for a while, but she's been sleeping a little later, lately)
- napping 2-3 times a day in short stints (usually 45-60 minutes at most, though occasionally longer)
- just starting to express preferences or separation-anxiety for certain people
- still blowing raspberries and sticking out her tongue
- laughing a lot when we tickle her, blow her hair, or chase her crawling
Kate's getting to be an old pro at this life-outside-the-womb thing! She is a very happy baby, independent and active. I love you so much, Baboo, and I feel so lucky to be your mommy!
[By the way, another Nashville mommy-blogger, Vanderbilt Wife, is celebrating her daughter's first birthday with a little blogstravaganza called "12 Days of Libbie." She invited anyone writing a "love-on-your-kid" post to link up, so welcome to anyone clicking over from there! And happy birthday, Libbie!]
Monday, October 26, 2009
Changing the World
I love busy days at work, and there is nothing like being out of town to create a busy day when you return! Scurrying around to get back on top of the heap, I start by responding to e-mails and then by going through the pieces of paper that collect on my desk reminding me to do things: a phone number written on the back of an envelope, a contract that needs to be filed, a proof waiting to be...well, proofed.
All this scurrying is part of the process of producing books that I hope/believe will make a difference for pastors, churches, and people of faith. I don't heal the sick or feed the poor in my day-to-day work, but hopefully my work can play a small part in empowering Christian communities to be a real force for positive change in a hurting world.
My confidence in that goal got a boost during my trip last week up to Ginghamsburg Church, near Dayton, Ohio. We were there for Change the World, Ginghamsburg's fourth annual conference on the missional church. This is always my favorite trip of the year, getting back to the core of what Jesus called the church to be. Past speakers have included Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, and Adam Hamilton. This year featured Ron Sider, Ruby Payne, and Trevor Hudson, in addition to Ginghamsburg's Pastor Mike Slaughter, who always speaks at the event.
I really loved hearing from Ruby Payne, renowned expert on poverty. She looks at the cultural values and "hidden rules" inherent to the poverty, middle-class, and wealthy classes. It's quite fascinating, and a bunch of teachers and social workers from around Ohio paid to come just to her sessions of the conference. It made me think about
how the church can minister not only to the poor outside its walls, but also within--integrating and serving the families living in poverty who may come to worship but are often kept on the outskirts of our middle-class-oriented congregations.
Mike was inspiring, as always, reminding us of the church's imperative to be missional rather than attractional, to make disciples rather than tally decisions, and to value people over buildings. His keynote was a great teaser for his upcoming book Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus, Mike's ninth or tenth book, and his third that I have edited. Aimed at pastors, leadership teams, and others active in church missions, the book explains changes in strategy, budget, programming, and organization that churches can make in order to make mission to the "least, last, and lost" the church's top priority.
Change the World is essentially "Mike on paper," articulating the true heart of his ministry. Mike actually said he could go on his next trip to Sudan in a few weeks with no regret or fear because he had written the book he was born to write. That was understandably disconcerting to his wife, but if that isn't reason to read this book, I don't know what is!
All this scurrying is part of the process of producing books that I hope/believe will make a difference for pastors, churches, and people of faith. I don't heal the sick or feed the poor in my day-to-day work, but hopefully my work can play a small part in empowering Christian communities to be a real force for positive change in a hurting world.
My confidence in that goal got a boost during my trip last week up to Ginghamsburg Church, near Dayton, Ohio. We were there for Change the World, Ginghamsburg's fourth annual conference on the missional church. This is always my favorite trip of the year, getting back to the core of what Jesus called the church to be. Past speakers have included Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, and Adam Hamilton. This year featured Ron Sider, Ruby Payne, and Trevor Hudson, in addition to Ginghamsburg's Pastor Mike Slaughter, who always speaks at the event.
I really loved hearing from Ruby Payne, renowned expert on poverty. She looks at the cultural values and "hidden rules" inherent to the poverty, middle-class, and wealthy classes. It's quite fascinating, and a bunch of teachers and social workers from around Ohio paid to come just to her sessions of the conference. It made me think about
how the church can minister not only to the poor outside its walls, but also within--integrating and serving the families living in poverty who may come to worship but are often kept on the outskirts of our middle-class-oriented congregations.Mike was inspiring, as always, reminding us of the church's imperative to be missional rather than attractional, to make disciples rather than tally decisions, and to value people over buildings. His keynote was a great teaser for his upcoming book Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus, Mike's ninth or tenth book, and his third that I have edited. Aimed at pastors, leadership teams, and others active in church missions, the book explains changes in strategy, budget, programming, and organization that churches can make in order to make mission to the "least, last, and lost" the church's top priority.
Change the World is essentially "Mike on paper," articulating the true heart of his ministry. Mike actually said he could go on his next trip to Sudan in a few weeks with no regret or fear because he had written the book he was born to write. That was understandably disconcerting to his wife, but if that isn't reason to read this book, I don't know what is!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
1DoH: Away and Back
Welcome to the fifth installment of 100 Days of Holidays!
26) Monday 10/19: It is finally getting to be jacket weather, so Kate donned her polka-dot fleece jacket as we headed off to "school" today.
27) Tuesday 10/20: Kate and Daddy love roughhousing on the floor. Matt is such a good daddy, and my confidence in his childcare skills made it much easier to head off on my business trip this week.
28) Wednesday 10/21: Matt sent me this picture message of Kate eating her finger foods. Neurotic as I am, I responded "Is Kate wearing pink pants with her green shirt?" No doubt rolling his eyes, Matt texted back "I knew you would notice that." She did start the day in the polka dot leggings that go with that top, but apparently there was "an accident."
29) Thursday 10/22: Granna came up to spend the day with Kate while Daddy went to a leadership event of some sort. Shame that event wasn't Change the World, where I was!
29) Friday 10/23: Mommy's back! Hooray! This trip to Ohio was the longest I'd been away from Kate, and it was hard, but luckily it's a good conference and a good author relationship, so I enjoyed the trip. We had bathtime soon after my homecoming, and then all three of us played in Kate's room before bed.
30) Saturday 10/24: Today was such a full day, I'm going to go a little wild and crazy and post two pics for it. First, we spent most of the day down in Nashville, where our friend Maria did some family and 9-month photos for us. They are gorgeous! If you're on Facebook, you may have seen a sneak peek, but there are more to come on Wordless Wednesday!
In the evening was the church Fall Festival, significant (for me) primarily because it was the first time Kate wore her Halloween costume! What a cute little monkey!
31) Sunday 10/25: Here we are as Kate and I slipped into the back pew at church (Daddy came over to say hi). I used to sit up front, but after getting frustrated with having to take Kate out numerous times during worship (see my rant here), I started sitting in back where I can let her crawl and cruise around some, and make an inconspicuous exit if necessary. It's working out much better, though last week was still exhausting. This week, I didn't break out the puffs until sermon time, and an older gentleman asked to hold her right around the prayer time, so I actually got to pray! (It's hard to pray while wrestling an alligator and keeping one eye open to make sure it doesn't crawl right up the aisle or out the door!)
This week--Kate's nine month Marcel pic, and more Halloween fun!
26) Monday 10/19: It is finally getting to be jacket weather, so Kate donned her polka-dot fleece jacket as we headed off to "school" today.
27) Tuesday 10/20: Kate and Daddy love roughhousing on the floor. Matt is such a good daddy, and my confidence in his childcare skills made it much easier to head off on my business trip this week.
28) Wednesday 10/21: Matt sent me this picture message of Kate eating her finger foods. Neurotic as I am, I responded "Is Kate wearing pink pants with her green shirt?" No doubt rolling his eyes, Matt texted back "I knew you would notice that." She did start the day in the polka dot leggings that go with that top, but apparently there was "an accident."29) Thursday 10/22: Granna came up to spend the day with Kate while Daddy went to a leadership event of some sort. Shame that event wasn't Change the World, where I was!
29) Friday 10/23: Mommy's back! Hooray! This trip to Ohio was the longest I'd been away from Kate, and it was hard, but luckily it's a good conference and a good author relationship, so I enjoyed the trip. We had bathtime soon after my homecoming, and then all three of us played in Kate's room before bed.
30) Saturday 10/24: Today was such a full day, I'm going to go a little wild and crazy and post two pics for it. First, we spent most of the day down in Nashville, where our friend Maria did some family and 9-month photos for us. They are gorgeous! If you're on Facebook, you may have seen a sneak peek, but there are more to come on Wordless Wednesday!
In the evening was the church Fall Festival, significant (for me) primarily because it was the first time Kate wore her Halloween costume! What a cute little monkey!
31) Sunday 10/25: Here we are as Kate and I slipped into the back pew at church (Daddy came over to say hi). I used to sit up front, but after getting frustrated with having to take Kate out numerous times during worship (see my rant here), I started sitting in back where I can let her crawl and cruise around some, and make an inconspicuous exit if necessary. It's working out much better, though last week was still exhausting. This week, I didn't break out the puffs until sermon time, and an older gentleman asked to hold her right around the prayer time, so I actually got to pray! (It's hard to pray while wrestling an alligator and keeping one eye open to make sure it doesn't crawl right up the aisle or out the door!)
This week--Kate's nine month Marcel pic, and more Halloween fun!
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