Caught the giggles

His laughter had actually died down a lot by the time I grabbed the camera, but it's still rather contagious.

Halloween parade

We took Jack to the Brookline Halloween Parade this afternoon, though when we got there, we discovered "parade" meant "swarm of people in the street dressed in costumes," with a small stage for an announcer (to give awards to about two dozen Halloween costume winners- out of about three dozen) and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. Shoot-- had we gotten there earlier for the voting, we would have probably taken home $10, in addition to the big candy bars they were handing out.

Jack wasn't a fan of his lion headpiece, so we settled for mountain-man ear flaps. We thought he was pretty cute though, and he did get several complements and awwws. Check out the photo link on the right for more pictures.

The purpose of marriage

"Children are an heritage of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them..." Psalm 127:3-5

After many conversations with others about birth control and being open to a large family I felt the desire to write a bit about our feelings on this issue.

When I mention to others that Mike and I want to leave the planning of our family completely in God's hands, I sometimes get looks or confusion, raised eyebrows or comments that may stem from misunderstandings. Not too long ago, I myself was hostile at the idea of not using a means of birth control after I got married. What, and pop out eight kids, or more?! After one week of doing a little bit of research on the topic, my stance changed completely. And my convictions have only grown stronger.

It makes me sad when I see families who are perfectly spacing their 2.3 children so they can have more things. Yet, these same families, who have three or more nice cars in their driveways and spend thousands of dollars on the "best" care for their children, are the ones claiming they can't afford anymore. Children are not something to be "saved up for," such as a car or a dog, or things to be pushed aside until we get our lives in order, have more time. I have heard so many people, especially lately, talk about their plans to "save up enough money" so they can start a family. And being prepared is great, but children don't cost that much money, and God ALWAYS provides what we need.

Before Mike and I were married, we were cautioned by someone who hardly knew us to wait two years before having children so we could "get to know each other first." She couldn't stress it enough, "Wait two years!" First of all, I hope I have already gotten to know the person I am going to marry before I walk down the isle. More importantly though, the Sacrament of Marriage both calls and enables couples to put their family first and sacrifice for the purpose of having children. Why wait several years for children to come along for your marriage to be strengthened by them? Kimberly Hahn, in her book, Life Giving Love, makes a statement I use often, "children are only and always a blessing." It is unfortunate that so many Americans don't see children this way anymore. Many view them as a curse. In the Bible, God blesses families with many children, and it is considered a punishment to be barren. I want to be open to as many blessings as the Lord desires to bestow on us.

We believe that the purpose of marriage is to create a family, to reproduce, as God commands and desires us to. Genesis 1:28 (NAS) says, "God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it..."

The Lord designed our bodies with each part functioning EXACTLY how he wanted them to operate. There is no other organ of the body besides the reproductive system that humans violate by destroying its natural, Godly function. When I have said that we want to leave our family size and spacing in the hands of God by not using birth control, I have sometimes been met with another response: What about illness? Shouldn't a person's fate be left in the hands of God by not relying on medical intervention? Sickness and disease are not healthy, good or natural things, and God gives us doctors and medicine to heal. Conception is a natural, Godly thing and doesn't need to be "fixed" or blocked.

I am not out to condemn all birth control users. I simply want to make Christians aware of their false thinking toward children. We expect an anti-child philosophy from the world...but Christians have a God who bids the little children to come unto Him.

Family in Pittsburgh

My brother, Taylor, is coming to Pittsburgh this Sunday... to live! He'll be staying in our third floor guest room until he settles into an apartment, so we're looking forward to the company-- especially Jack, who is always quite amused by his uncle Taylor. Now, at least we'll have family closer than 3 1/2 (or 13!) hours away, and we finally have a third for cards (Jack hasn't quite mastered that yet).

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful grandmother I'm certain exists anywhere! From as far back as I can remember, I have felt so warm and special at my "Honey's" house because that's just the way she makes everyone feel. I ran into her arms for protection against my older sister and cousin and the tricks they used to play and got her to "hamme dat chikin," when I wanted dessert after dinner (a wicker chicken always filled with treats on top of the pantry). I remember her having conversations with our stuffed animals and talking quietly to my baby doll, Stacy, like they were real live things and me crying when it was time to leave her house at the end of a visit. Still, every time I enter through the doors of my grandparents' house, I get a wonderful feeling of love and warmth from the memories of my childhood.


She has taught me so much about faith, saying kind words about others and being honest, and perhaps I got my love of games and words from her. And, though I have seen her experience some difficult times, I have not once heard her complain. She is one of the most pleasant, upbeat people I know.


Thank you, Honey, for being a wonderful friend and for spoiling me, as grandmothers, I am told, should. I love you!

Cookies!

We made sugar cookies last night with our new set of 100 cookie cutters from our friends, the Wilsons (great housewarming gift, thank you!) and iced them today after church. I think Jack was a little disappointed when we told him he couldn't have any, but we gave him his own kind of cookies, which seemed to pacify him for a while.

And, speaking of *sweet* things, this is what I came downstairs to this morning when I woke up...

7 months!

Jack is seven months old today- and starting to creep around by himself! Right now, it's an ill-coordinated army-crawl, but it serves its purpose to get from one side of the room to the other (without rolling). We have discovered areas we need to start baby proofing. He's also started sitting up all by himself, waving and vocalizing a lot more.

After the first picture, it was impossible to get him to stay seated upright on the couch (he kept flipping over to get Sheepie in his mouth)-- we had better luck on the floor.

Our talker

Though I know he probably doesn't associate it with me yet, he's been saying "Mom" and "Mama" very articulately and clearly lately, on cue. Nonetheless, it makes me feel good.

A visit from Uncle Tay

My brother, Taylor drove up to visit us for the past couple of days, and we had a lot of fun- visiting Mt. Washington on a gorgeous evening, being filled in on the third season of one of Tay's favorite shows, The Office, and as always, playing with Jack, who laughed harder and more than I've ever heard him laugh before. He adored dancing with Tay to Moby and Belle and Sebastian and having staring contests, which he just about won every time. That kid knows how not to blink.
Thanks for the visit Tay! Have fun in the rest of your travels!

Happy birthday, Heather!

Happy 26th Birthday, Boot! Many of my fondest and most memorable childhood moments involve you, whether running to tell on you and Kenzie when you locked the back neighbor in the closet of Honey's Airstream, running to the top of "your hill" to catch the peak of a sunset, or making a dance video, clad only in bandannas, with Marvin the Monkey puppet. There's always a little more adventure with you around, and I know you're the coolest teacher those kids in Maine will probably ever have. Have a great day! I love you.

Another house project completed (almost)

Before

After

Other than a carpet edger for under the door (since we took out the stunning, stained and buckling aqua carpet in the bedroom) and a box spring for the bed (which is still at my parents'), yet another room is added to our completed rooms list. Right now, it's just another guest room, but Jack will occupy this space once he is out of his pink and blue hearts nursery (a future project).

The carpet was surprisingly easy to take out, though this wasn't the case for the stair carpeting, which was partly glued on by the half-gallon of white paint that doused it. I think my mother had blisters after her attempts to tug at it with my inadequate needle-nose pliers. I did finally paint the front faces of the steps today so there isn't an ugly dark patch where the carpet used to be.

My new art site

After a few weeks of work-- Mike's work-- my art site is finally far enough along, and having benefited from the suggestions of one of my CMU classmates, it is ready for its unveiling. It is is flawed with massive holes here and there of work that I cannot find, but you do not know that. Perhaps I will patch some of those holes as I come across work and find the time to do more drawings now. Art used to be such a big part of my life, and since college, I haven't picked up a drawing pencil until just recently. I hope this site will get me back into art and will give me an excuse to do more drawings.

(By the way, I do give special rates to first-time friends and family)



SKETCHBOOKSNAPSHOTS.COM




Mike, thank you millions for making this site for me through hours of me over shoulder, "Maybe that could be a little to the right... a little more," "could you make that picture a little bigger?" "Can we add a new section, and a new blurb?"..."Can I change that blurb?"..."Again?" You are the most patient man I know. And if I asked if something was possible, you were typing in your code faster than I could change my mind. I love you.

New Pictures!

We added more pictures from September to our web album. Click here to view them or see the photo link we added on the sidebar, which shows the last five individual albums.