Monday, December 22, 2008

Santa's Workshop


What have we been doing around here? 
Just being little elves....
We have been busy:
sewing
cooking
(trying to crawl)
baking
knitting
crafting
(drooling)
more baking
wrapping
(licking wrapped packages)
decorating
(chewing on ornaments)
etc...
more pictures to come.

The other day, we had this bunch of our friends over to help us bake cookies and make little stuffed fabric ornaments. 

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Day at the Park




We joined our friends at the park this morning, getting some fresh air and sunshine after a few cloudy and rainy days.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

According to...

"...You RUINED Christmas"
Mason, addressing his mother, when asked about Nam Christmas traditions:
he was addressing the absence of a Nam, not shared, Christmas tree.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

According to...

Steve:
"Setting up a fake tree is so much easier than a real one"
Quoted before it took an hour to figure out plugging the sections together so that the tree lit up.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Twinkle toes

Look what Santa brought early... We're off for a day of facials and lunch and shopping with the Shank girls.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

According to...Maddy

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Goodwill.

Many of you are probably wondering, "Are they still at the Nam's?" The answer is yes.
We are still here.
The summer has turned to fall, and now to winter. I avoided writing this post for a while. In fact, I avoided it all fall because I wasn't ready to admit the lack of forward momentum towards our home-owning goal. It has been a humbling journey. God is faithful to soften my heart towards his future grace, especially in this process.
We often sing or say the phrase "peace on earth and goodwill toward men" during the holiday season. What does "goodwill" means? For me, the meaning has become more real to my faith during this home-journey. I have come to accept the good will, the sovereign will of God, otherwise known as future grace. Now I am rejoicing that there isn't any other better place for us. This is God's good will for us to be here.
I read in Piper's new book, Battling Unbelief where he says, "When you live by faith in future grace, you know that all the products of your living are the products of grace." He extensively quotes from Deuteronomy 8:11-17, where it warns against the pride of possessions:
Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth."
Right now we are feeding off His provision, the daily manna, by living here right now. We are learning that although it is a good desire to have our own home, the temptation to be discouraged about our future is only because our pride is wounded. I would love to take credit for our resources and the self-ability to meet our needs for a home. But God is protecting us and providing for us. We are trusting Him and his promises, not just his providences that are apparent on this journey.
We are cozying up with our friends and settling into our little sweet suite here for as long as God leads.
Rejoice with us as we say, "Yes, and I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored" (Philippian 1:18-20).

Food Glorious Food

She likes it.
Alot.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Nappy Nap


We couldn't resist taking this picture after she woke up from her nap

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving Recap

I admit it.
I'm behind.
Why spend my time online when I can be busy with my dear family???
They were here a whole week enjoying the fabulous Phoenix weather and activities for Thanksgiving. The Nams generously moved into the MacKays and my family moved in with us.
We have officially dubbed the Nam's home "Nam-elback Inn" in lieu of the famous landmark Marriott hotel here in Phoenix called the Camelback Inn. My family laughed as we listed the amenities: individual rooms, comfortable beds, gourmet foods, great restaraunts, great shopping, free vehicles, swimming, cheap golf, tennis, a hot tub and endless free, instant movies (Thank you Scott for the Roku!!!).
Not to mention the spread we had at Steve and Janis' for Thanksgiving. They hosted a wonderful meal and day, filled with surprises and gifts. Despite the rainy weather, they entertained all 33 of us for dinner and activities with their usual class and grace.
My personal highlight was using my mom's new driver and having my first real drive on the golf course go farther than Chuck thought it would! I even bogied a real hole! If I had my mom's driver I would be at the golf course a whole lot more...I guess all the golf knowledge floating around here at the house has rubbed off on me more than I thought!
My family highlights included shopping at Target with Emily and my mom, sorting through the clearance section and the pile of clothes we dragged into the dressing room to try on and laugh through. Another highlight was seeing my brothers enjoy Kate, as they didn't have as much time with her in Maryland over the trip. Lastly, running with (or shall I say trying to keep up with) my little brother Brett in the new semi-annual JamKay 5K we ran on Thanksgiving morning (the name stands for Jansen, Shank and MacKay participants).
Here's a slideshow from the week:

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Official end of fall...

Thanksgiving day always ends with a Jansen tradition...BOND...
I had to wait until Friday night, but we finally got out to see Quantum of Solace.
Now I am officially in Christmas mode.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

First Foods


Aren't green beans delicious??

Where is the power for today?

I love what Martin Lloyd Jones says in his book Spiritual Depression. It encouraged me so much as I think of how to battle my heart and the "battle against the flesh".
We are not living on ourselves. We must not think of ourselves as ordinary people. WE are not natural men; we are born again. God has given His Holy Spirit and He is the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Camping

You'll fit in a two person tent. No problem.-- Jeff and Tina Zigler

It took an hour and a half to set up.
When Travis laid down in it, his feet stuck out six inches of the door.
We tried our hardest to fit a queen air mattress inside to no avail.
The wind picked up and Travis' air mattress deflated outside.
Then at one am, Travis crawled into our tent.
Coyotes were howling. The wind continued to whip around the tent.
Chuck was snoring and Ashley was giggling.
We tried to fit all three of us on a twin air mattress, which led to stripping all our extra layers off because we were so hot. Imagine that in the tent you'll see in the slideshow :)
After much shifting and trial, Travis then left the tent at 2 am for the car.
Then we slept.
Kate only woke up twice-- mostly because we were moving around so much.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Camping Essentials.

On Friday morning, the dialog went something like this:

ALL: Isn't the weather awesome?
CHUCK: It makes you want to have a fire. Or go camping.
NORA: I know! I was thinking about it the other day and this coming weekend is like the only one we have left before the holidays.
CHUCK : Love, where could we go camping?

(Ashley's already on the computer)
ASHLEY: There's Usury Park like 10 minutes around the corner. Fifteen dollars a night!
(Nora's on the phone with Travis, who shockingly says yes.)
CHUCK: Taylor, let's make a list. We'll need more sleeping bags...
ASHLEY: All right! If we're going camping, we'll need to make rice.


Yes, we went spontaneous camping. Not only did we go camping but one of the first things our dear Namies said they needed to do was MAKE RICE!! We couldn't stop laughing. The whole trip was a big farce. More on that later.

Motherless Mondays

My dear Kate has been enjoying herself with Grammie and the Nams the last three Mondays while I went to work. They have reported the following: rolling, scooching, cooing and laughing. Connor Nam made her laugh with his funny noise and Ashley caught it on her cellphone. I show this to everyone who asks about her because it just makes everyone burst into the biggest smile.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Preview


Look at this adorable preview picture we got from when we were in Maryland! Thank you to our friend Janelle B. an awesome photographer.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Nutrition Class, Part Four

Crusty baguettes. Pumpkin muffins. Pasta marinara. Toast with jam.
You name it, carbs. They're everywhere. And for good reason. I mean, a good steak is one thing but do you really enjoy chicken breast after chicken breast that much? And no one I know enjoys butter enough to say that they would eat a whole stick. I have, however, heard of a whole loaf of bread being consumed in one sitting. I won't say who.

Carbohydrates are our primary source of fuel in our diet and for good reason. Carbohydrates are simply, sugar. Who can deny their love for sugar? Let me introduce another way to think about carbohydrates. As we discussed in our nutrition class, carbohydrates must reclaim their good name. Carbs do not make us fat. It isn't as if we are scooping white sugar right into our system. We must reform the popular belief that all carbs are bad. Think about them as energy that nourish our bodies, the fuel for our engine.

There are two different categories of carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are the sugars found in milk, table sugar, and honey. Complex carbohydrates, which should be our primary fuel, are found in grains. This is similar to the idea of whole grains; however, whole grains are more tied to the idea of fiber. You probably know that your breakfast cereal is a carbohydrate, but did you know that carbohydrates include milk, fruits, vegetables, legumes such as beans, as well as whole grains? If you choose to eliminate carbs from your diet, you are eliminating the major sources of calories from your diet.

Carbohydrates contain more than calories. They are rich in B-vitamins, contain small, healthy amounts of fats containing Vitamin E and a great source of antioxidants like lignans. They are also a source of fiber. Fiber is a part of a carbohydrate we can't digest. It is a starch like that found in grass, which, unless you are a cow with three stomachs, you can't digest. What's the point then of eating fiber? I tell little kids fiber is like a toothbrush for your intestines. That "grit" in fiber helps with the sloughing off of the dead cells in our intestines, which, like our skin, turn over every 2-3 days. Imagine if you never exfoliated your skin; then don't neglect your insides!

Fiber is also an important component of feeling full. If you aim to eat 25 grams of fiber a day, it can help with weight management. More than that, most of the high fiber foods are also the most nutrient-dense foods contain the greatest amount of antioxidants, which are powerful disease fighters.

Imagine a "diet" that made you so satisfied, so full and so healthy that you didn't have room for anything else. This is a diet where you can always "eat more". This is the diet made of the three "Eat More's". Your goal is to constantly be thinking, "How can I eat MORE...
...Fruits and Vegetables
...Whole Grains
...Healthy Fats

The question I get most often as a dietitian is, "What does a healthy diet look like??"
Start with fiber. It is a simple thing to count. Think about it as a budget, where you must spend $25 dollars in a day with the foods you eat, representing the 25 grams of fiber you aim to eat.
Read here at the Mayo Clinic to find more high fiber foods.

Start with whole grain cereal with milk for breakfast.+4 grams but if you just add 1/2 cup frozen blueberries or 1/4 cup raisins you increase your fiber by + 3 grams
Then for a snack, eat a pear + 5 grams.
Eat a healthy lunch like a sandwich on bread with 3 grams of fiber per slice +6 grams.
Snack on low-fat popcorn in the afternoon and add 6 grams.
Enjoy a side salad with dinner +2 grams and a medium potato +5 grams with your meat.

This day doesn't include all the other little snack you might have or dictate the exact portion of things. The point of this is to show you how a diet should always be about what you add first. Most of the time, we are over-fed and under-nourished. Guilt makes people swear they will "stop eating such-and-such". This is doing the right thing by subtraction, which will fail ultimately. Start by adding the right things in your diet. The wrong things will start to become less in the balance of the best things.
More on healthy fats next week...

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Nutrition Class, Part Three

Cooking starts with building skill upon skill. You have to be able to do more than read a recipe, you have to start a recipe. Many start with mechanical skills, like knowing the difference between chopping, dicing, and mincing. Another would be basic understanding about the cooking process, like how to sautée ingredients. Then you graduate onto classic French techniques. One of these, the girls in my class call, "The Marriage". They are referring to a marriage of three main ingredients in mirepoix: carrots, celery and onions. You can read about it here on Wikipedia. We made a vegetable soup the first class with it, and then on week two, started the base of our chicken pot-pie. Another technique we used to make the sauce for the pot-pie was a roux. In week three we used the same technique to make reduced-fat alfredo.


Reduced-fat Alfredo Sauce

In a saucepan, melt 2 Tb butter, 2 Tb olive oil. Add 2 cloves of smashed garlic. Saute until garlic softens, about 1 minute. Whisk in 4 Tb flour (or cornstarch for gluten-free). Continue to cook over medium heat briefly until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Then, whisk in 3 cups milk slowly, carefully incorporating small amounts at a time. Continue to whisk periodically for about 8-12 minutes over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Add 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese and whisk until cheese has melted and incorporated into the sauce. Season with 1 tsp salt and black pepper to taste.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It's around the corner...

Christmas will be here soon. October always makes me think of Christmas shopping, because classically my mom and sister and I would head out for an early start during our "girl's shopping trip". Now, we didn't always do just Christmas purchasing, but I have determined that at least I need to get a headstart with idea planning. My friend, Emily H, has some great ideas. I also am really into using Etsy for my shopping, as the mall is even more overwhelming with a little one. It is like shopping Anthropologie but online, and for less.

You see, I have to do shopping this month. I have all our families' birthdays clustered together, the majority of them being in the fall, which is then followed quickly by Thanksgiving, holiday preparations and then Christmas. So, I am looking and gathering and planning away. Some of my ideas are: Emily's barrette holders for little girls we know (shh... don't tell them) and her suggestions to use Etsy. I am also going to start shopping for the books I want to give all of our other little friends. There is another discovery I made the other day while I was shopping, called Francesca's Collection. They have all sorts of "boutique-y" items but for a lower price point. I saw their store down in Gilbert and really like some of the things they had. If you need ideas for cool baby toys, Emily showed me this link to Moolka. I have had a really hard time finding good infant toys that aren't overly much, so this is a great site. I think I am going to place an order because I have another baby shower coming up.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Free Handbag

I'm wishing and hoping and praying :)
I would love to win the silver bag... I have always wanted a cool silver bag to serve as both mommy and Kate's bag...
check it out on www.handbagplanet.com

Thursday, October 09, 2008

My first hat




How adorable is this? We found this hat I used to wear when I was a little girl in the cedar chest and we put it on Kate this morning when we dragged her out for a morning walk. It is incredibly sad to think my trip is coming to a close, because this was the first walk my mom and I have gotten to go on since we arrived. I can't say Kate and I have been early riser though!

Fallness


One of the wonderful things about being at my parent's home is thoroughly enjoying true fall. Fall decorations, weather, sweaters, socks and crisp apples. The light is golden in the morning and afternoon. The sun remains a friend throughout the day that you don't have to hide from like in Phoenix. Most of all, I enjoy what we call in Dutch hezlig. It is the most cozy, homey atmosphere you can imagine. Every time I come back, I am more convinced that my mother's home is the most beautiful home I have ever seen. Even the painter giving an estimate on Monday said the same thing. Her color palette, the mixed new and old, the ever changing mantel...it all is so homey. I can't wait to mimic her someday again with my own home. Even the front porch is a still life waiting to be captured. And who better to bring it to life than my little girl?

Grass!!






Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Brett's soccer game





We joined a crowd of adoring fans to view Brett's team win 2-1 today. Brrr! It was chilly when the sun went down, so when we took her out of the sling, her little chin was quivering! We watched the boys score while chatting with the friends, siblings and mothers during the less interesting parts. My mother proved her sports prowess after all those years watching us, by helping Carolyn and Janelle define Chad's pass before a goal as an "assist"; she has come a long way from yelling "Go! go! get them!" at basketball games in years past :) 
By the way, don't you think that her new glasses are super cool??

Goldilocks

We have always joked that my Dad is "Goldilocks" for his very precise preferences on everything from where we put the shoes in the hallway to the type of toothpaste he uses. 
But he has competition.
Kate decided that she likes TempurPedic mattresses; she slept two and a half hours on Uncle Peter's mattress. It was a wonderful nap and we are going to try to take more of those once we get home.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

My first wedding





My friend Tali took some pictures of Kate at the wedding we attended on Saturday. It was a beautiful, unique location that Drew and Melanie picked in Frederick, in a wooded glen facing a beautiful pond. It is a little late in the season to have an outdoor wedding, but the weather cooperated and it turned out beautiful. Kate was the star of the show, aside from the bride and groom, and enjoyed meeting all of our friends back East. She did wonderful for three and a half hours, smiling, cooing and greeting everyone. Then as we entered the reception, she put her little head down on my shoulder. It was if she was saying, "Mommy, I'm done. I met everyone. Can I go to sleep now?"

Saturday, October 04, 2008

The Land of Flax

Seeds are in.
Especially in the Jansen household.
Everywhere I look, there they are: flaxseeds.
Not that there is anything wrong with flax. It has all sorts of health benefits for your immune system, your heart health and not to mention your digestive system.
But here, they take it to a new level.
The first thing my mom did was announce that she had purchased me a fabulous chocolate flaxseed cookie when she was getting her flax and oat coffee after pilates the other day.
Tasty.
Then I go to look for a snack. Flaxseed crackers. Ground flaxseed. Flaxseed oil. Bread with flaxseeds. Not to mention my chocolate flaxseed cookie.
Let's just say that I have a very healthy colon right now.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

I'm all packed!

Here we come D.C.! We are off to visit for twelve days and while we are there celebrate Marmie's birthday. Travis will join us next week for the festivities, but we needed extra time to visit all our East Coast friends and family. We'll see you when we get back!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I just had to share this moment from this morning. Kate plays in her crib every morning while I do my devotions. She coos and talks to herself. She swings at the toy crab hanging from our makeshift mobile and pulls on her singing monkey that is attached to the baby mirror on the railing of her crib. She wiggles. She kicks her feet and scooches by arching her back. And then she falls asleep. This is how I found her after I got suspicious by the absence of noise. Obviously she was done.

The Hoarded Recipe



We hosted dinner club and cooked up an extra-special meal to celebrate Travis' graduation. I have been saving the recipe from my Inn at Little Washington cookbook for several years now, waiting for an appropriate occasion to celebrate. And who better to celebrate with than our dear friends and foodies?? Travis and I aren't the only ones to celebrate a big year; we have all been through major changes- adding children, changing jobs, Matt's loss of his stepmother, moving, and more pregnancies. And God has been faithful to us all. We enjoyed recounting God's blessings along the way as well as celebrating upcoming adventures in our future.
The menu was simple but delicious:
Surf and Turf: Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Steamed Lobster Tails
with a Red Pepper Coulis and Sweet Corn Saute
Hot Popovers with Butter
Creme Brulee

Saturday, September 27, 2008

5 inches later



At around three months, I did my own weighing and measuring of my little girl. She's no longer little either. We think she is around 13.5 pounds...but the real shocker is that she has grown more than five inches. She is now 25 1/2 inches long! The dress I put on her this morning no longer reaches her ankles, it is now a mini dress! The little bloomers peek out from under the dress now :). Problem is that 3 month is too short, but 6 month clothes are not "skinny" enough for her (even though she is a great weight for her age). We hope her tummy catches up with her little arms and legs.
Her little body isn't the only thing growing either. As you can see from the pictures above, her hair is getting very long. It is still very curly when we get her out of the bath (her favorite time of the day--she loves the water.)
She is also quite the social creature. She is fought over to "do school" with here at the house. She is toted around and read history to or science or to be a "study partner" to the kids. She is pictured above with Maddy, who babysat for the very first time the other night for us while we went to caregroup. Maddy is learning to change poopy diapers and clean up the "cheese" (spit-up) as well as the fun activities.
The other caregroup Taylor watches her. I get a text message usually with the report but this past time I got a picture. Taylor had found her in her crib rolled over. Of course she waited until we all weren't watching :) She is very strong and we have been waiting for her to do it. We can't wait for repeat performances.
We have been focusing on nap-training. It has been a week of torture for mommy and Kate. She sleeps almost 12 hours at night, but her naps have been thus far all less than 40 minutes. We have been trying to train her to go back to sleep if she wakes up, but it has only resulted in two long naps and a lot more tears. We knew we would probably have a stubborn child, but I didn't know I would be so soft-hearted and that this would be so difficult. We are going back to just focusing on a longer afternoon nap. She has gotten so tired that it is only putting her to bed earlier,which isn't the point. It is such a small, temporary issue that I wish we could just ignore the need for a "schedule". Wiser women than myself have told me you don't want them to think they run the roost. So, we persist and persevere.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Nutrition and Cooking Lab, Part One

I am teaching a nutrition and cooking lab this fall to two young friends as a lab science.
The first week, we discussed the idea of nutrition and basic kitchen skills.
One of the most interesting things about the study of nutrition is that it is a combination of many other disciplines, such as philosophy, gastronomy, anatomy & physiology, chemistry, social science, psychology and so on. Another of the basic points we covered was the make-up of nutrients: not only do we consider carbohydrates, fats and proteins, but also vitamins, minerals and water as essential for human nourishment.
In the kitchen, we discussed food safety. Do you know what temperature life begins at? Anything above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. That means even though you may put things into your fridge, doesn't mean it's safe from growing something.The most important numbers to remember are in the DANGER ZONE 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep cold foods below 40 and heat everything up above 140. Last week, we also discussed knife skills, since this is one of the most basic skills in the kitchen. Here's a video to discuss the proper use of a knife.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Two and a Half Months


She's 12 lbs and 23.25 inches long according to our checkup...and she survived all four shots. Aren't my pigtails cute! Thanks Miss Becky for the suggestion.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Announcement, Arriving


Here are the baby announcements that you all should be receiving in the mail. After many delays on my part, illness, and Kinkos errors, we are finally sending these out. Today Kate and I are off to our 2-ish month appointment. Hmmm... shots. That will be fun!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Life and Death

As I read through my emails that accumulated over the weekend, I received two emails that hit upon the same theme: life and death. My friend, Erin, a RN who is serving in an AIDS clinic in Mozambique wrote:
"To make a long story short, while we were at the restaurant a women committed suicide by jumping off our building. She was so close that we could see her body lying there covered with a sheet from our table. It was horrifying and unsettling. I woke up this morning still thinking about it and two main themes are going through my head. First, I praise God that He has revealed himself to me (and to us) and that we have a hope beyond this world. There is so much suffering in this world, in our lives, and to some degree in my life, that I know that I could not make it without hope in Christ. In Mozambique the suffering at times seems magnified. There is extreme poverty, rampant AIDS and sexual promiscuity, and broken families with practically non-exist father figures in most homes, to name a few of the difficulties here. People here cannot hide behind the mask of materialism like we can in the States. Without God, there appears no hope.
After thanking God for my own salvation and the hope I have within me, my heart is just breaking over the hopelessness that this women probably felt. No one can have lasting joy through these sufferings without the joy found in Christ. So I pray with more fervency now that God would shine His light here in Mozambique to bring His hope. I pray that God would give me opportunities to share the gospel and also my life and the reason for the hope that is within me. I pray that in my life there would be a joy that is constant through the valleys because of Christ’s presence in my life. As I am building relationships with the kids and with the Mozambican workers here, I pray that people would see that joy and desire it.
God has been revealing to me how important it is to “be joyful always; pray continually; and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:16-18) Witnessing and contemplating this suicide last night makes me realize how much of a witness that joy and hope in Christ really can be.
So I also pray for each one of you that God’s joy would increase in your life and that this would overflow into your relationships with all people to draw them closer to Christ.


Then my father-in-law, Steve, sent us an encouraging thought along the same lines from the Hiedelberg Catechism:
“What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong-body and soul in life and in death- to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from how on to live for him.”


This gives me a renewed perspective of my purpose today, as I live in the comforts of the cross, our country, my church, and my home with my family. Thank you Lord for your mercies towards me.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

My life


Hello. This is Kate. What am I up to lately? All my adoring fans are wondering, aren't they?
For starters, I just went to the mountains with my family and my Grammie and Pop-pop and my uncles and aunt. I was spoiled by all the snuggling and the attention. Even though I was sick, I still had a lot of fun. It was cold at night! I kept waking up too early in the morning because I am used to warmer weather. I loved wearing warm clothes and now I am addicted to socks.

I also got very good at sleeping in my pack n' play. Good thing I practiced all last week, because this coming weekend I am going back up to the mountains with my friends, Drew and Bella. I am going to try to sleep better next time for Mommy. When I got home I slept from seven thirty all the way until almost six, so I think I paid her back. Yesterday I even took my first two hour nap, so I might still be catching up.

I am very smiley right now and love to play with my hands. I suck on my knuckle when I can't find my pacifier. I like to blow bubbles and squeal with delight when my friends and family make faces at me. I can do a lot of things now. I even do Pilates by lifting up my legs and tummy like I am doing the Teaser. Marmie would be so proud of me!

My other favorite exercise is swimming. I still love to swim every day even though yesterday it was very cold. I watch Mommy blow bubbles and I tried to put my face in the water too! But I didn't realize I shouldn't breathe in when I put my nose underwater. I am still learning how to hold my breath. I figured out I can kick my legs and get a lot of wiggles out. That way I am very tired for bedtime.

I am also growing a lot right now. Everytime Mommy nurses me, I am getting longer and fatter. I am still skinny though because I am tall enough for my 3 month clothes but they are a little baggy on me. I haven't lost any hair, so I must be keeping this 'do for a while. Mommy thinks that I have hair like Tante Em because it is brown, blond and some little red highlights.

On Monday, Mommy had me do this strange thing with her. There was a bright screen with a moving picture. There was a familiar voice but I am not sure I know how to look at them through a computer. They were moving very fast. I still haven't figured it out. Mommy calls it Skype and apparently we are talking to Marmie. When my eyes get better I will start to smile at them too

Well, I have to go now. I need to eat my snack. I am diving for it. I'll tell you if I get there all by myself.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

In Memorium


On early Tuesday morning, Travis' grandfather, Robert Brown, passed away in his sleep from complications of emphysema and other health issues, in Davenport, Iowa. We grieve over his loss for both ourselves, having lost Travis' and my last living grandfather, and for the Brown family. I had the honor of meeting him last spring and was grateful to have met the man through which God used to give me my husband.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Golf

Before Kate was born, Travis and I came home from our trip to San Diego by way of the outlets in Palm Desert, CA. We hit upon that actually-worth-it-outlet-sale at the Izod store, where they had great golf attire for 60-80% off. Travis bought me a postpartum golf outfit that we had the opportunity to try out on Sunday before we left Show Low. My man let me drive the golf cart on a beautiful sunny day while Grammie watched Kate and allowed me some much needed uninterrupted time with Travis.