Christmas...a little late

We were so blessed by Christmas with Rob's family up in Northern Virginia!

I admit I had grand ideas (Thanks, Ann Voskamp) about creating an ethereal experience for Rowen...celebrating giving rather than receiving and singing happy birthday to Jesus and all things warm and fuzzy, but those hopes came tumbling down as I heard a whiny and entitled voice declare he was ready for all of his other gifts. Is that my son? You bet it is.

Even though Dear Ann set my hopes high and made me think I could do it, I'm thankful for her insights really. I kind of felt like a prude insisting that Rowen stop after each gift and look the giver in the eye to thank them, but we're laying down traditions that he'll always remember and hopefully do someday without prodding from his mother. I'm learning, too, from Sheparding Your Child's Heart, that their outward behavior isn't nearly as important as their heart. If only I could mold that little thing myself!

But truly, if I could, would I? Could I ever do the job meant only for The Holy One? ofcoursenot. God just has to reel me in sometimes. And He takes me by the hand and says,

"Precious child,
chill out."

Anyway, once I got ahold of myself, I realized the beauty in all of the chaos and the full house and the shredded wrapping paper all over the place. It was a lovely day and my heart was full.

Hot wheels!

Thank you, Jesus, for all of this. And Happy Birthday.

Christian Movie Reviews

I was bummed (and surprised!) to learn that Madagascar was rated PG. No biggie really but we try to limit Rowen's (already limited) tv viewing to G rated movies. Anyhoo, I found a great Christian website with reviews about tons of movies. The reviews catalog each profanity, reference, violent scene and says whether there is any smoking or alcohol in the movie. They also highlight movies with a strong moral worldview, redemptive moments, displays of self-sacrifice by the characters, etc. Turns out they rate Madagascar pretty well so I would definitely put more stock in that than the PG rating. Here's the site if you're interested: http://www.movieguide.org.

Eucharisteo

A few people I need to thank and am so very grateful for.

51. Miss Kat. I know I've probably listed her before. She's just that good. Good enough to be listed time and time again. Love her~

52. Familiarity between friends. I love that Katie M. and her family just pop in for lunch (or for me to sew up a gashed arm!) and I don't want to think about life without that happening.

53. Dr. Donald Soles. For showing me what its like to live out your faith in every aspect of life, even medicine. And for being a gracious teacher even when life is hard.

54. Dr. Sinclair McCracken. For trusting me with her dear patients and somehow knowing I could handle the job.

55. Dr. Joy Elliott. For teaching me how much fun family medicine (and LIFE!) is :)

56. Dr. Stephen Leblang. For teaching me the value of a good story.

57. Dr. Mike Lustig. For teaching me humility. The hard way.

58. Dr. Jacob Jones. For teaching me you are what you eat.

59. Dr. Alan Rashid. For being ridiculously calm all the time. And for getting me the Peds job.

60. Dr. Susan Satchwell. For showing me what strong women in medicine look like. And those types of things.

61. Dr. John Priddy. For giving me confidence in med school.

62. Dr. Ava Stanczac. For teaching me how to teach children to be independent and explore their world.

63. Dr. Robert Harding. For being a model for us all of a doctor with an uncompromising standard of care.

64. Ron Swanson. For loving woodworking, meat, and breakfast foods.

Notables and Quotables

Every night, I rock Harper to sleep. Its such a precious time with this sweet girl. She's usually so busy and always on the go, so it's really great to hold her and just soak her in while she drifts off to sleep. Ever since she was born, we've had a special routine. As she drifts off, she usually has her little hand up in the air, maybe trying to hold onto the little wakefulness she has left, then that precious little hand wanders over to my face and settles on my eye. As I close my eyes and she feels the tickle of my eyelashes on her hand, she laughs in her sleep! Same thing happens when I kiss the palm of her little hand! Its so snuggly! Then, I'll kiss her, right on the edge of her lips, mostly on her cheek and she laughs again! And sometimes (still in her sleep), she whispers "Dadadada."

Tonight as Rob was getting Row ready for bed, he made some comment about Rowen needing to get his clothes off and pj's on and Rowen says,

"And, your point is...?"

We were both floored! We had to laugh! He had a huge smile on his face so we know he was being innocent. Then a couple minutes later while brushing his teeth, Rob said something else and with a toothy grin, Rowen said,

"So, what's your point?"

LOVE them :)

Eucharisteo

After being awake in the middle of the night for the 250th night since Harper was born...(I'll admit there've been about 20 nights since I've known the child that a) she's slept through the night, or b) we were out of town and she kept someone else up))...I decided JUST MAYBE God would have me use this time to pick back up my gratefulness journal since I haven't listed anything since 11/21. Gah.

36. I know I'm supposed to list this so here goes. I pray that God will make something beautiful out of it...Being up 250 nights between 12 am and 4 am (note the time stamp on this entry...makes me so sad).

37. Getting rid of "junk".

38. Friends over for dinner.

39. Making time to exercise.

40. Mail! I mean, good mail. Like cards and letters and what-not.

41. Etsy.

42. Buying birthday gifts on Etsy.

43. Wedding registries (Yay for Courtney and Timothy!!)

44. Resolution. 5 minutes after I started typing, the babe is quiet. Night, y'all.

45. Wait, thinking maybe I'm not done being thankful since she started crying again right after the sentence above.

46. This verse: Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29. Lovely.

47. A blessing bag from Kids With A Vision. We currently give out Subway gift cards, but do you think this would be better?

48. Being excited about decorating a new house.

49. Learning how to do new things. Example: grouting tile. Forget the grout float tool thing. Accomplished with a trusty butter knife.

50. Quiet baby? No noises in about 2 min. Claiming it and crawling back in bed. Night, y'all.

Breakfast table banter

Rowen and I were having breakfast this morning and he was sitting on his feet bouncing in the chair. Here's our conversation.

Me: Rowen, please sit on your bottom. You may fall if you bounce and I would be sad and cry if you were hurt.

Rowen: Then your eyes would cry and your nose would get a bunch of boogers.

Me: Yeah, I guess so.

Rowen: Then you would need to blow your nose, mama.

Pre-Christmas fun

Rowen's preschool had a Christmas Program the week before Christmas. It was really cute.

Here's Row and best buddy James after the program, dying to tear something apart but tolerating the paparazzi.


Rowen so enjoys his time with James that he pouted when I asked him to take a picture with precious teacher, Mrs. Kelly. Without James.


I think this photo sums things up.


I commented to Rob that this shows what Christmas programs must be like for little boys' moms: we watch all the little girls smile and ham it up while the boys just stand around trying to pass time.

BUT ROB SAID, "No, the boys are raising their arms up like they are supposed to be doing. The girls are just standing there smiling. They are clearly not doing their job. That's not entertaining at all."

Another funny was at our Christmas Party. We added the fun-factor this year by encouraging ugly sweaters. Our guests really brought it, too.

Yes, I made our sweaters. Message me if you want one!! I'm taking pre-orders for next year. I'm even throwing in the midriff-length sweaters shown above!!

And finally, Rowen and Peter, while not part of the funny sweater competition, were fiercely vying for awkwardest face.

More Beaufort Fun

Bowling with G'mama...her first time ever!
(excuse the dreadful picture quality...couldn't NOT show my mom's first ever bowling attempt!)

Hunting Island State Park. I'm in love with this place :)

The lighthouse was so neat!

Beautiful girl :)

Beaufort, here we come :)

Several weeks ago, we visited our future home: Beaufort, South Carolina. And just as sure as the spanish moss dripping from the live oaks above me, I was smitten with this quaint town the moment I laid eyes on it.


This place we're in is an odd juxtaposition. I love Norfolk. More than I ever thought I could love a city like this. We cherish our friends and church and I love my job and our neighborhood. There are so many things we'll miss.

And there are so many things we won't miss. The constant sound of sirens blazing. Parking on the street. Expecting a parking ticket anytime you're downtown. The tunnels. I could go on, but it just feels ungrateful. And that, I am not.

I'll save my Ode to Hampton Roads for another post, but suffice it to say, when we went to Beaufort, I did feel a little like I was cheating on Virginia.

Anyway, we had a wonderful and productive time there in the lowcountry. We rented the world's smallest guesthouse on Lady's Island and braced ourselves for a busy week. In fairly short order, we found a house, hired a nanny and I interviewed for 2 jobs. We also celebrated our 5 year anniversary there. My mom came up to keep R&H and we stayed at the Rhett House Inn, a gorgeous Antebellum home in downtown Beaufort. We signed up for the obligatory horse-drawn carriage ride and thoroughly enjoyed the tour like any self-respecting tourist would. That night, I had the Best Steak Of My Life at Saltus River Grill and we watched the Prince of Tides (book = better). Bobby gave me a gorgeous diamond necklace that had been on "my list" for years and a girl couldn't have been any happier :)







All in all, I feel like God just smiled on our time there and as much as we're so sad to leave all that we love in Norfolk (not the least of which is Miss Kat!!), we're looking forward to calling Beaufort our home.

The Christmas Story...as told by Luke

Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

From Luke, Chapter 2

As I look around at our abundance this Christmas Eve, I am humbled. The abundance of love and food and money...I am tempted to feel shameful, wasteful, selfish. Then I remember a beautiful article a friend sent me by Rachel Jancovik asserting that all our Christmas Crazy (you know, over-zealous gift-buying, preparing a feast to feed an army for 12 people, baking and baking and baking some more, spending gosh-awful amounts of money at Pottery Barn on mercury glass ornaments...) is, in a way, glorifying to God in itself since....wait for it.....

"Christmas is the ultimate celebration of the material."

You see, as John tells it, it was on Christmas Day that "the Word became flesh"...that's when baby Jesus came right on down to walk among the mortals and show us what love really was. And our children are watching what we make of Christmas, so let's be (as Rachel Jancovik says) as big and glorious and spiritual and physical as we can be!

"For we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son, who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth."

John 1:14