On Vacation

Vacations to Spokane are very exotic. Last night I went on a literal excursion to the Sullivan Fred Myers to get Bradie her precious soy yogurt. From Herald that is very far.

I already spent some time last night with Margaret, chatting away. She kills me. Here's a quote from Mrs. Lynch:

"He doesn't understand the connection between a clean living room and sex, but there is one."

Marcus and I will be-heading over there to see both Maggie and Mr. Lynch, hopefully we will play a serious round of Guillotine. E-PUNS ROCK! :)

I also wanted to say a quick thanks to Grandma Mary who was telling me that she has been enjoying my blog! Thanks so much for reading, grandma XOXO!

the BRAT diet

There's nothing more pathetic than when my daughter pukes. On Monday night she did so for two hours and settled in for sleep. We both had to strip off our clothes twice, even a new bra! (me, not Bradie). Marcus waded through quite swimmingly. He was a wonderful Cinderella, or military grunt, as I ordered him to and fro with one word commands such as "Towel, now!" or "Remake our bed!" or "Take my shirt off!" I can assure you that last statement was very unromantic :) What a stud- this is all from a guy that also struggles with an overactive gag reflex! He even hightailed it to RiteAid so we could have that delicious generic Pedialyte for the next morning.

Well, the skies have finally cleared, literally and in our little home. I am finally on top of the mountains of laundry that were built in those two hours (thanks to IKEA for removable covers for the POANG chair, brilliant!). I even worked out today!

The most amazing thing is how faithful God has been. His grace is really a REAL thing. You see, I spent most of Monday wanting to punt my little daughter like a football. She was such a pill all day long. Then at 6pm (which is the homestretch of the day) she puked. I can't accurately describe the feeling that washed over me, but the closest words are patience and peace. And of course pity that my sweet baby felt so terrible. I spent that whole day struggling with my own selfishness and impatience...that is the miracle of motherhood that God in His sufficient grace can intervene in seemingly impossible situations of the heart.

Things Bradie did today

My mom put tights and a skirt on for me to wear to church.

I took a two hour nap whereupon I had dreams of puppies and fruit smoothies from Jamba Juice

I jumped into the air for the first time.

I put rocks into the pocket of my sweater.

I wiped dirt on my mom's jeans, over and over again.
Its pretty cool, actually. Mom didn't think so.

I was fascinated as mom and dad played catch.

I sat on the potty a bunch. With my diaper on, of course.

All in all, a pretty good day.

Bradie would like you to have her rock.

Life in the Convergent Zone

Some updates: Marcus loves me. So much in fact that last month he bought me a solitary plane ticket to go see one of my favorite people ever, Margaret, Mags, the Magi, or just Maggie. It was blissful. I slept in my own comfy bed and didn't worry about baby sounds in the middle of the night. I got to spend uninterrupted time chatting about all matters of life with a very dear friend. I played Scrabble and Guillotine (LOVE it!) with Casey and Maggie. We shared a platter at Azteca. Did I mention I didn't have to listen for baby sounds? :) Its very fun to feel free and single, but ultimately, I really missed my little fam. They give me so much joy, I can hardly bear it at times.

This isn't Marcus' blog but since I directed you here, I'll give you a snippet :) Marcus is still teaching and sometimes wondering why, but overall he realizes he is here for a reason. We both try to focus on "being where we are" so to speak, but it is hard. In a class discussion recently, he couldn't believe his ears as teenagers were admitting that, thanks to the world of texting and e-living, they were quickly losing ability to communicate IRL (that's In Real Life, for non-techies). To me that is a really big deal for these kids to admit. The lack of taking responsibility for oneself seems to be at a high, but the grace of God and conversations like this will hopefully keep them, and us, grounded.

Let's see...Bradie is now 17 months old! What a funny character she is! Occasionally I will punch in her age into the good ol Google search engine, just as a litmus. Apparently kids don't really kick balls, attempt to jump and only throw underhand when they're 17 months. But not our superstar. Not only does she love to "feed" and "diaper" her babies, but she also scales sheer faces whenever possible and currently only says ball. Quite the Renaissance baby if you ask me. Of course, her parents addiction to college basketball only encourages this :) She's really into rock collecting, sorting and gardening. In fact, a few days ago, Bradie "weeded" her rock garden of all pine cones. Below is a picture of us working in her garden :) Mostly, she makes my heart ache in the sweetest way. It is so amazing watching her grow into a little person. All the little details...watching her face screw into a grimace as she tries a new task, grunting and pointing at every object for us to name, putting a tube of deodorant up her shirt...its a crack up and so so precious.

uh-oh. I lost a picture, trying to tab down :( This Lenten season has me enjoying God without the consumption of chocolate. Don't laugh. Well, you can laugh a bit. I did at first, when I discussed what might be a good sacrifice. I had no idea I was truly addicted to chocolate. Its really silly in the big picture, but it has been an accurate mirror to the contents of my heart. Yes, I will celebrate on Resurrection Sunday with a peanut butter chocolate egg. But just one. My goal is to have only one Master. And that master shall not be a chocolate bunny! :)

Bradie is a party animal

In this picture Bradie is also wearing my t-shirt. She looked like a little wizard with the sleeves hanging low.

Our first "heartbreak"

Bradie doesn't understand the sadness and anticlimax of a March snow. She cannot appreciate that the calendar will say spring in only a couple of weeks and seems much farther away in reality. She does, however, appreciate possessing items. I made her a snowball with the sticky, melting snow and she clutched it in her mittened hands like it was gold. She said "ba, ba, ba". I said yes, that is a ball, a snow ball. The heartbreak occurred because she could not understand why her beloved new ball was not allowed in the house. Thank goodness she's such a little gnat. Now she is trying to suck imaginary milk out of her baby's bottle, her snowball but a memory.