into...

What a full and busy day today. I don't have much to post... just a few things that I'm "into" right now...

1. It's Thrifty Thursday at Designer Digitals. I love this site. I need to do more digital scrappin'.
2. Twitter. It's micro-blogging. It's connecting with others. It's addicting is what it is. You may have noticed that I added it to my sidebar also.
3. Ali Edwards' blog. I am so into her style of scrappin' and writing. The stories... love telling the stories.
4. Design Your Life. I'm very excited about this class with Cathy Zielske. This is just where I need to go creatively. And she is hilarious... love her sense of humor. (If you're a scrapper... join me! You can sign up any time between now and October, there is no limit on registrants.)
5. My boy. He is just the coolest. I'm giddy about every moment I get to spend with him. Here he is channeling his inner Bobcat football player. Yes, I said "Bobcat" and not "Buckeye" on purpose. (That ought to bring on the comments!)
   

one year old

The photo is from a month ago... one that I didn't get posted. JT was watching for bunnies in the backyard. That usually entertains him for a while. Here's what he's into at one year old:

• Says uh-oh, mom-mom, dada, woof, vroom, O-OH (hello into a phone), and ni-ni (night-night). Yes, I count all these as actual words.
• Signs more, all done, eat, and milk (sometimes)
• Made up his own sign for "talk on the phone" where he pats his mouth.
• Pushes the hippo walker all over the house at a high rate of speed. And sometimes he pushes the laundry basket in the same manner.
• Reads books. He loves the touchy-feely books and the ones with pictures of real people or vehicles. He'll sit in a big pile of books turning pages while I get his dinner ready.
• Wraps himself around my legs. He's in a mama's boy phase. He cries for me... endearing on the one hand, kinda sad on the other.
• Walks while holding my fingers in each hand. Tonight I thought he was asking "Huh" for maybe "hand" or "hold". Not sure... He definitely doesn't think he's ready to let go yet though.
• Loves motorcycles. Tonight at the park I had to drag him away kicking and screaming from a kid's bicycle that looked like a motorcycle.
• Screams at the top of his lungs over puppies, kitties, bunnies... wants nothing to do with a cow or horse though. We found this out at the county fair.
  
• Bangs on pots and pans while I work in the kitchen. And he still loves the storage containers. Tonight he spent a very long time matching up lids to bottoms.
• Waves to cars going by or random people in the park or at the grocery store. Oh, he also waved at a tree on our little walk with the hippo tonight.
  
• Likes big "squeeze" hugs where I squeeze him really tight and shake him from side to side. His version of giving me the same hug is stretching his arms out and then shaking his face side-to-side against my shirt, leaving a large drool deposit in the process. I can live with that. *love*
  

lime juice

Tonight was girls' night out with the Fork gang. We ate at Cafe Shish Kebab, Turkish cuisine. It was very good... I'd recommend it!

I picked up my new polarizing filter tonight. Very excited about it! The outdoor photo at right was taken with the filter. I definitely did not have enough time to play with it tonight.

Also picked up my long-ago reserved copy of The Creative Family from the library. I'm very excited to process the ideas in this book. The projects might be geared for kids a bit older, but it never hurts to plant the seed.

Even though I missed Bible study tonight to hang out with the girls, I am still working on my reading and journaling. With the new lighting in our bedroom, I can keep it at my bedside as an easy reminder.

While I was at Fork tonight, John and JT went to the grocery store. Apparently JT was peeved that John kept putting everything out of reach. So John gave him a bottle of lime juice for entertainment. Mind you, we didn't need lime juice and he didn't intend to buy it. Well, I guess when they got to the checkout, JT screamed when John handed the lime juice to the cashier for scanning. And that was the only time he let it out of his sight. Weirdo.

check it off the list

I achieved my one goal of the weekend... decorate at least one wall in the house. I've been lamenting that my house is in a terrible state of half-decorated. I just lost steam at some point. I pretty much have enough stuff that I could go to town with it... just never get motivated enough.

So on Saturday, I printed 8x10s of a couple of old and new vacation pics. I printed a volcano from Costa Rica, the beach path at Atalya, and a field at Dolly Sods in West Virginia. I framed them in a frame that my dad made for me years ago that held some pictures that I'd grown tired of. When I tire of these or take something really cool, I can replace again.

I hung the pictures over our bed. (I could really use a headboard... another weekend.) I placed two wall lights from Ikea on each side of the frame. I picked these up when we were in Cincinnati in June... they were just sitting around our room as clutter.

I also hung up a wall pocket I've had for 2 years, but didn't know what to do with it. I hung it up by another piece of framed art and stuck the dried pussy willow branches in it. Not sure how well it's working here, but I am able to live with it.

Next weekend I will move on to another wall. Maybe by the end of the summer I will really have a nicely decorated house!

party guy

JT is discovering that parties are great fun...

a year ago

We met my friends' little baby girl, Grace, tonight. I didn't get to hang out with her much. In fact, when she started crying, I handed her back to the friend who'd had her (this gal doesn't even have kids... but she seemed to have it figured out).

This baby has me thinking of another little baby who was rocking our world this time last year. In fact, these pictures were taken on this very day in 2007:

loving well

I attended my first Bible study tonight: Beth Moore's Loving Well. I actually missed the start of it last week because I couldn't bear to spend the evening away from JT on his birthday. So I chose ice cream over Jesus. Wrong, I realize.

So tonight I am thinking about God's love and how I love. On the way home I was thinking about the time I visited the psychic. And then I thought, hmm, God probably doesn't mesh well with "psychics". lol. I'm going to tell this story anyway.

It was the fall of 2000. John and I had been dating since February. He was my first boyfriend, we were in love, there was no talk of marriage at that point... it was just fun. I think there were two evenings that I visited the psychic with friends. John and another one of the guys had their fortune told the first trip. I think it was another visit to the psychic with some girlfriends that I had my future read. I think she used Taro cards to find out what she needed to know and maybe looked at my palm, I can't remember exactly.

She asked if I had any questions. I asked, "is there travel in my future?" She looked at the cards and firmly said, "definitely not within the next year." I said, "Are you sure because I'm planning a trip to Ireland in March." Her advice was something to the effect of "you can plan it, but the cards say you aren't going anywhere."

I ended up going to Ireland and having a great time. But in getting there, it did seem that the cards were stacked against me. Hoof & mouth disease invaded the British Isles and threatened to close down all tourism in Ireland during the time we visited there. And I got a horrible flu about a day before our flight. I was very worried that our trip would be canceled or that I wouldn't be able to go.

Then I asked her if my boyfriend and I would stay together. She studied the cards and told me he was not "the one for me," but that he was the "one who would teach me about love." I often wonder how my life would be different if I had taken that psychic reading to heart. Would I have altered my course? Did her words have any effect on decisions I made? Did her predictions have anything to do with God's plans for me?

Certainly in the 7 years years since I saw that psychic John has taught me plenty about love. We have learned a lot about love together... different kinds of love, too. We have learned about romantic love, mature love, family love, love of a child, love of mankind, etc.

I do think the psychic captured something of our relationship, though. John is a special person. He has an amazing love for me that he is very good at expressing. Even if I love him the equivalent of how much he loves me, I will never be able to show it the same. Every day he teaches me what it means to love openly, honestly, out loud, with all your heart.

We dedicated our little guy at church on Sunday. We dedicated ourselves to raising him to know Jesus and God's love. And we are so thankful to have our family, friends, and church to help us do this. We are blessed to have these folks help us teach JT about love.

That was my last trip to see a psychic. I just don't think they get it. Plus, it's much more fun to discover God's plan for me on my own. Now, I need to answer some journal questions God's perfect love. I will probably leave the psychic out of my answers...

birthday week

JT opening GG's present, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

The past week has been non-stop birthday preparation and celebration, it seems. I just downloaded 178 pictures from the camera that need triaged, sorted, and edited. There are still pictures from fourth of July to process as well. Good thing I like pictures enough that it's a task I can't wait to have time for!

My Photo jojo time capsule showed up today flaunting the photos I uploaded this time last year. Wouldn't you know it was pictures of our brand new bundle of joy? He sure was a sweet little thing. I won't kid though, I'm glad we are past the newborn phase.

We had a gorgeous day for his party. It stopped raining and the skies cleared up JUST in time for it. We had lots of sweet guests who made for a wonderful day of visiting. JT got a ton of presents. He has so many toys and books, I hope we can thoroughly enjoy each before he outgrows them. His favorite gift was the tricycle. The wagon is a very close second. His dad's favorite gift was the sprinkler for outdoor water fun. They tried it out tonight.

Tonight I made some mango-pear sauce for JT. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. Those were some amazing pieces of organic fruit that were all exactly the right stage of ripe. If he doesn't like it, I'll just have to eat these cubes myself.

And with that, I'm pooped. Off to bed. Ni-ni.

first year

I have been finishing JT's first year album. I made this scrapbook-in-a-tin before he was born. I've not been good about updating it. I usually sit down and try to remember the past month or two. Luckily I keep a journal with the sitter of random things he's into. And there is also the blog and photos to help me remember. Someday I will be glad for all these little reminders.

Here is the outside of the tin:

Inside I have these little cards, one per month, with space for a wallet-size photo. There is only space for a couple words per day. Easy commitment, eh? At this moment, I am happy to say, I have filled in every single day for the whole year. I'm about to head downstairs to find my glue stick and affix the photos to the pages. The tin will make its debut at his birthday party.

Because everyone wants to know that he went out for Japanese food on February 2 and played in the snow on March 9. I'll post some pictures of the finished project soon. In the words of JT, ni-ni.

cottage cheese

Now there is a blog post title I never thought I'd write. Hehe.

The boys are both asleep and the house is totally quiet. An hour ago I could think of nothing but sleep myself, but now I'm relishing the quiet time. I will regret in the morning.

JT is asserting his independence lately. I guess when you learn how to walk on your own, you are pretty much on your own, right? Bah.

He has been turning down new foods not so much because he doesn't like them, but because they arrive at his mouth on a spoon handled by his mother. He'd much rather feed himself. Oh, but wait. He can't use a spoon. Minor detail.

So last night after failed attempts to feed him some cottage cheese. I just let him have the bowl while I finished my dinner. Once again, I thought, "I will regret this, I'm sure."

He picked up the bowl.

Stuck his hand in it.

He scooped up some cottage cheese. And ate it.

He did this 3 or 4 times. "Sweet... he got some more nutrition in him," I think to myself. Then he performed a scientific experiment testing a hypothesis on gravity.

He finds once again that gravity is always at work and everything he lets go over the side of the high chair does indeed hit the floor. And the wall. And the carpet.

We decided to go for a walk after this. I think there is still some cottage cheese around here...

haircut

JT's first haircut, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

I took JT to Cookie Cutters today for his first haircut. Granted, the kid doesn't have much in the hair department. But what he does have was growing well past his ears. Since his birthday is next week, we want him to look spiffy, so off to the salon for kids.

I chose the Dale Jr. car for him. Dad's a Nascar fan, so I figured he would appreciate that. He had quite a grip on the steering wheel the whole time. So funny... how do little boys just know that they are to love cars?

He didn't make a peep or a fuss the whole time. And his hair looks adorable now. He looks a bit too much like a little boy and not like a baby though.

This might be a rough week for me with him turning 1. I'm loving that he is so into me right now... but man it's going to hurt when he goes off to college! And at this pace, that is going to happen WAY too soon. :-(

time flies

speed stroller, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Our life feels a lot like this picture... zipping by way too fast. With smiles, of course, but still fast. I can't believe this week is over already. I can't believe it's July. I can't believe my little boy will be 1 year old next week. Aaack.

We're having company tonight and tomorrow for the fourth of July holiday. Our friends from Pittsburgh are on their way right now: Lynn, Marc, and baby Lucas. It would be kind of cool if they are passing through downtown Columbus right now while Red, White, and Boom is happening! We are watching it on tv.

We're excited for JT and Lucas to play together. They are only two months apart. I'm pretty excited to have two babies to photograph. Hmm, maybe I should have gotten them matching patriotic shirts...

We spent last night getting the house in shape for company. There were just a few things to wrap up tonight. We were able to get ready and now we are just sitting down relaxing. Relaxing! Maybe we are getting a handle on managing jobs, a household, and a baby.

Sure we are.