The other day...

I walked into the living room to see this.


Don't know when Will got the crazy notion that playing horsey with Eva would be a good idea, but she didn't seem to mind. Will has actually been paying much more attention to his little sister lately and will get real close to her and say "hey, sister" or "hi, Eva." Sometimes he'll spontaneously give her hugs and that is too cute, I tell ya. I realize that someday they may start squabbling, but I think at this rate they are on track to being pretty good friends. Or atleast good playmates.

Loud and Clear

There are times I feel like God is trying to tell me something. Sometimes it's just something little. Sometimes it's huge. I'm not always really certain what it is he's trying to say or what I should do, but there are times I feel like I should atleast stop and listen. The other day I was in the grocery store and I smelled my sister's perfume. At that exact moment I heard Sting over the store's stereo system, my sister's favorite pop musician. What was God trying to say??? Probably nothing. But I decided on a prayer for Earon.

The two themes that I've noticed lately are death and living amidst chaos.

Death
On Friday the mother of my best friend growing up died of colon cancer, a battle she had been fighting for the past 3 or 4 years. She was only 55. She was a very important person to me growing up, a motherfigure and an example of love to all those around her. A year ago yesterday Rodney's good friend from high school, Phil passed away. Why does death have to be a part of life? What can death teach us? What is God trying to tell me about death?

Chaos
Two nights ago we had a totally unexpected visit from good friends who were just driving through St. Louis on their way home from vacation. Let me tell you, my house was ABSOLUTELY TRASHED. I was so embarrassed. Had they come just two hours later, after dinner and the kids' bedtime, I would have had mostly everything picked up and the house in relative order. But there was something very intimate about having these dear friends stop by in the middle of my chaos. God was trying to tell me this: don't be so concerned with appearances. Relax. Care about people, connections, relationships. Forget about trying to control your environment. Oh, and their house is probably just as messy (they have three kids).

So how do these two things connect, if at all? Maybe in that life is too short to sweat the small stuff. Or even the big stuff. [We have HUGE projects in our home this summer that Rodney is tackling mostly himself. The rest we have to pay for with money we don't have....Don't sweat it, life's too short. We have a big mold problem in the house and we just found out we have lead...Don't sweat. Trust.] Trust.

So for now, I'm trusting that everything will turn out fine and I'm trying to enjoy the little things in life because who knows what may happen to me or my loved ones. I'm trying to smile more, enjoy my kids more, say "yes" more (isn't there a Jim Carrey movie out about this???).

If you haven't seen the movie from the link I posted above, make sure you watch the clip. It makes me cry everytime. I often need this reminder of God's gracious love, waiting for me to return to his open arms, sins and all. Even when I might not be listening...

8 Years

Next week is our 8th anniversary and in all honesty I've been too consumed with Birthdays and Baptisms to spend much thought on how we might celebrate. Well, last week Rodney declares to me, "Gina, don't make any plans for next weekend. We got a babysitter and we're going out to celebrate our anniversary. Oh, and think about what you wanna do 'cause she's staying overnight."

What more could a girl possibly think of to want? Good work, Rodney. Now to decide where to go and what to do. Due to lack of funds we had to dismiss the first few ideas that popped into my head (stay at a B&B or a hotel downtown, maybe see a show). Then I remembered. I used to camp. I used to bike. Rodney and I used to do this a lot together. Then I got pregnant and someone stole my bike. But, we could borrow someone's bike for the day and we could find a great place to camp that wasn't too far (oh, and I'm thankfully not pregnant right now). I didn't have to convince my outdoors loving husband that this was a good plan. The very instant the words "camping" and "biking" made their way out of my mouth he had the perfect place in mind. Pere Marquette State Park along the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The plan was to make it there by dinner and return before Will and Eva woke up from afternoon naps the next day. Done and done.

Victoria and Dan arrived at our house at 4pm. Victoria is a colleague of Rodney's and Dan is her boyfriend. They babysat the kids a few times on Thursdays during my voice lessons when Rodney had tutoring in the spring. They were so awesome to give up close to 24 hours of their summer freedom to enter the world of schedules, bottles, naps, and Play Doh. I didn't think I was very nervous about leaving the babes overnight until I started explaining our routine. I honestly couldn't shut up. I kept finding the most random things to tell them about that I had to remind myself that they too are adults and can figure out lots of stuff. Then we got in the car. Crap. I forgot to tell them about Che's eating schedule. And how to turn the monitor on. And that the fan in the dining room makes noises so don't use it. I have two words for you. Control freak.

But, we did it. We made it to the site, set up camp and had a great hotdog-and-s'mores dinner. At one point Rodney turned to me and said "Look at us. What have we got to do? No kids to worry about and no responsibilities. This is amazing." He was right. I couldn't believe that we had 6 whole years of this before the awesome job of child-rearing took over our lives.

I did have one thing to do, however. Pump. After our lovely camp meal, I started getting sleepy and knew this must be done before settling in for the night. I'll share the start of the ensuing conversation:

Me: "O.K. I'm gonna go pump before bed."
Rodney: "Alright. I'm just gonna sit and watch the fire for a little bit."
Me from the tent: "Crap. I forgot the pump attachment."

There was no way I could make it until two o'clock the next day without pumping. Can we just say uncomfortable? So, we started deliberating. Do we go home? Can you (sorry about the TMI) hand express? No. O.K. Rodney remembers seeing a Wal Mart on our way to the campground. We'll just go buy a hand pump and make do. Not something I was that pumped about (I do like a good pun, people) but we're having a good time, so I'll suck it up. I will say that I don't really understand why anyone would every buy a hand pump, but in this instance I was happy not to have to buy a whole new electric pump for just a night and a morning.

I made the best of this situation (not without some grumbling, I'm not gonna lie) and the rest of our trip was amazing. The bike ride was so much fun and we spent some inspiring moments beside the river discussing dreams for the next 8 years. After a tasty lunch of "hot fish" (there were several establishments in the "touristy" burg of Grafton advertising this delicacy) we made it home in the middle of naptime to a house intact and two very tired 20-somethings (Eva apparently was up from 4-5 am). I am ever thankful for Victoria and Dan's bravery and can think of no better way to celebrate marriage than in the stillness and beauty of bluffs and riverfronts.

Happy 8th year, baby.

Celebrations

We were lucky enough to end the month of May with two very important events: Will's 2 year birthday party and Eva's Baptism. I worried that planning both for the same weekend would make me a crazy person, but much to my surprise I was able to maintain an appropriate level of sanity. And I had a really good time too. Thanks to Mike Dando for taking such great pictures of the weekend.

Backyard Birthday Bar-B-Q (or Bubble-Q if your into puns)

We had a wonderful time chasing bubbles, eating hamburgers and hotdogs, and trying to beat the heat. So many great friends and family were able to make it and Will seemed to really enjoy all the attention. I cannot believe that it has already been two years since this little guy entered our world.

Marked As Christ's Own

Shortly after Eva was born I was approached by a woman in my church who wanted to make her a christening gown. Her daughter had gone into pre-term labor about the same time I did only her granddaughter did not make it. She makes a hobby out of designing antique christening gowns and Eva's was the 4th one she had made. This gown is amazing. With imported fabrics from Europe and made with such love, there is little else we own that is worth more. On the back hem is embroidered: Sealed By the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Marked as Christ's Own Forever. Eva Sophia Malone, May 31 2009. It is a family heirloom that can be worn by all the female members for generations. As you can see from the photos below, there is quite a bit of room to embroider subsequent babies names and their bapstism dates.

Happy Birthday

Today you are two and I cannot believe it. Where has the time gone? It amazes me that I have you to love, care for, cuddle with, play with, and nurture. It is the joy and wonderment of my life that I get to watch you grow and grow until someday you'll be too big to hold.

Your dad and I say to each other almost everyday how lucky we are. We think you are going to be an amazing person. So kind, sweet, and fun. You even apologize to the fan when you bump it with your baseball bat. What two year-old does that? You are so cute when you want to share something with us. "Mama, look," "Daddy, watch," are currently two of your favorite phrases. You are so proud of yourself and so am I.

If the coming years are anything like the last two, then my heart will surely burst. Happy, happy birthday sweet little boy.

Love forever,

Mom.

Springalicious

I know, I know. Everybody loves this time of year so why risk sounding redundant? Because spring is freakin' awesome and I have to enjoy it while it's here. St. Louis has an uncanny way of shooing spring into summer before you can say 'where's my frizz serum?'. Here are a few reasons why I can't get enough of Spring these days.


1. Honeysuckle
If you could only scratch and sniff this picture you would realize what amazing smells we've had wafting into our kitchen from the backyard for about 4 days now. We are lucky enough to have a massive honeysuckle vine all along the eastern perimeter of our yard. Not only does it smell like heaven, but it gives us a bit of privacy. Nice when I'm trying to not-so-discreetly breastfeed Eva on the back porch while letting Will run around the yard.

2. Walks in the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I realize that I am a little slow sometimes, but an entire morning at the Bot Gardens and no pictures of the flowers in bloom? Not so bright. Will, Eva and I had a lovely playdate with Heather and Eleanor at the Gardens today and we'll be going back as much as we can while it's nice. I did get a cute photo of Eva in her car seat though. I'll do better with scenery pics next time, I promise.

3. Celebrations: another year of life and a new life in Christ. Will's 2 yr. birthday party and Eva's baptism will be taking place on the same weekend in a little over a week. I am so looking forward to having family and friends in town and only wish my parents lived closer =(. We haven't decided yet what we're getting for Will, but Eva's baptism gift was getting her ears pierced. I didn't take a photo of her getting them done (seemed cruel- who wants a picture of their child getting a shot? which is essentially what it's like) but here is one after we got home. She really did awesome- only cried while they were doing it and was fine immediately after. Click on the photo to see the earings better.

Happy Spring, e'rybody!

Stuff

So I have atleast 5 blog posts swimming around in my head and I will never get them written unless I just summarize these thoughts and reports now:

-Eva's 6 month check up went well, minus some number corrections: she is in the 10th% in height and weight and was last month as well but they told me 30th%. This makes much more sense. Eva is an itsy bitsy spider. She started solids last month, is rolling around like crazy, and is pushing herself up while on her tummy. Two mobile children, here we come.




-Will is in his bed crying hysterics after 2 times rocking and one more telling him it's time to go to sleep. He is clearly tired but simply refuses to sleep. He hates naps about 50% of the time. Wish I could change this.



-I've been running for the past two weeks and I can now leap tall buildings in a single bound. Not really, but that would be fun. The first few times were kinda hard (especially pushing the ox-cart that is my stroller/children) but it's getting easier and easier. I decided that something had to be done because my waistline was refusing to return to it's pre-child days despite nursing (I'd even take pre-Eva waist).

-Bach Society and Symphony Chorus seasons have now come to an end. It was my 6th season with BSSL (Bach Society of St. Louis) and my 1st with SLSC (St. Louis Symphony Chorus). I am definitely planning a seperate post for my thoughts on Symphony Chorus because it was an unparalleled experience for me. I wish I could put you all in my pocket during rehearsals and concerts so you could see. Please come to a concert. It's really for your own good.

-I need a day off. Many of you wonder why I let Rodney go camping and it's really a practical reason. It is my way of putting money in the bank. When I feel that I need a day all to me, I don't feel so bad for taking it. There was an article in Parenting Magazine this month urging moms to take a day and explaining how to actually do it. My perfect day would involve good friends, good food, a manicure/pedicure, maybe some shopping. Any other moms want to join? Now, if only it was REAL money in that "bank"...