Little Man's Dedication

Last Sunday, Frank and I made some big promises to Little Man. We made promises about how we will parent, how we will teach him, how we will love him, and how we will do better than our best with the help of the Lord.

The Pastor who lead the service is the Pastor for children & families at our church. He is a very nice man and I'm excited about the prospect of Little Man getting to grow up attending the fantastic programs that Pastor Owen has implemented.

Little Man was very attentive through our part of the service. He has gotten really good at looking at whomever is speaking, so he did a great job of following the action. The congregation had a few opportunities to laugh, and while LM looked shocked he never cried!

The Pastor threw us an unexpected question (LM's birthday) and Frank wasn't prepared to answer. This was the source of congregational laughter, but in his defense we didn't know the question was coming and I would have hesitated, too.

My favorite thing (and the one thing we didn't take pictures of) was that we had more than 15 people come to support us and Little Man! Frank and I felt so blessed to have so much love poured out on our little guy. We have some awesome friends, and they made that day one that will be remembered for a long time.

Halloween

This little owl showed up on our doorstep tonight - what a fun Halloween surprise! I just cannot get enough of this little girl and her amazing parents. We are sure going to miss them when they move to Cameroon!

Need. More. Sleep.

The title of this post was actually a tweet I posted the other day, and is still true.

Last night I went to bed at 9:30pm (immediately came home from small group, went upstairs, brushed teeth, put on pjs, got in bed) and slept until almost 8am (made the morning rush to work a little more rushed, but it is raining and that slows down everything anyway). Do the math with me - 9:30pm to 8am... that is 10.5 hours of sleep.

I will say that I feel pretty rested today, but it is only 10:30am and I'm not sure how long this feeling will last. There is a good chance that my body will go into Nap Mode around 2pm, between my two lunches.

This whole 'growing another person' thing is really tiring!

I'm doing my best to get to bed on time these days. I've given up all but one tv show that I watch on a weekly basis - and it comes on at 8pm! All other shows have been relegated to Hulu when I have time.

I've always needed more sleep than the average bear, but this is a new experience all together. Before, I would just need to sleep in once a week or so to catch up on my Zzzs, but now I'm falling asleep at my desk in the afternoon, falling asleep at the end of small group, falling asleep during the 9th inning of the Braves' must win play off game! (I almost missed the end of Bobby Cox' managerial career - for those of you that know me AT ALL, you know how insane that is)

Anyway, I'm trying to roll with the new 'normal' and get the rest my body is demanding. I know it is for a great cause, so if I need to go to bed at 9pm every night so be it.

I just hope this kid I'm cookin' is as good of a sleeper that I was, and still am.

What Can You Give?

Through college, early post college, and even during our 'trying to live responsibly during law school' years I've found it challenging to find time and/or money to give to worthy causes. We've done our best to make church tithing a priority through it all, but beyond that it can be hard to find two spare nickels to give!

There are two things I've found that absolutely anyone can do, or at least try.

1. Donations of goods. I used to make runs to Goodwill on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes it would be just one bag of clothes, other times it would be four or five. Usually this would happen after a cleaning-spree when I'd decided that I didn't need half of the 'stuff' in our home.

More recently, Tina and I have begun a tradition of a twice-annual clothes swap and donation party. We've had two so far, and our third is scheduled for October 9th. The format is friendly and usually involves food, drinks, and a fun mix of friends. (consider this an invite)

By having our clothes swaps in April and October, we catch everyone during the time they are switching their summer and winter wardrobes out - a perfect time to get rid of things you didn't wear! The donation part comes after the party; once all of the clothes have been picked over, they are sorted and taken to Goodwill by one of the hostesses! It is a great motivator to clean out your closet, get some new-to-you (and free) clothes and accessories, and then have everything carried off to a donation center for you.

2. Give Blood. I'm O negative, also called a 'Universal Donor' meaning anyone with any blood type can be given my blood, so I've long felt a responsibility to donate as often as possible. During college, it was a way for me to give while on a shoestring budget! It takes almost no time, and once you are on a schedule it becomes a routine part of your life.

I'm not currently giving blood because of the pregnancy thing, but I plan to start back up again as soon as it is safe for me to do so.

I really encourage you to consider adding blood donation to your 'giving' plans. It is something that is of great need at all times, not just following major disasters.


What can you give?

My Amazing Day

There is a reason I chose that photo for yesterday's Wordless Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, that is how I felt! Want to know why?

1. USA soccer won

2. I scored a major victory at work, or at least scored a potential for a major victory! I'm getting to put together a proposal for changes that I think need to be made to a certain system tha we use. It is a pretty big opportunity for me to step up and address a major function of our office and I am very excited!

I think there were more reasons, but shortly after I came home and posted that picture (from my friend Catherine's wedding) Frank and I left for small group and my Amazing day took a different turn. Our car was super overheating and we were still a few miles from where we needed to be, and the dealership was closed, and no one carried the right kind of coolant, and I did my best to laugh it off and maintain my Amazing day.

It is funny now that it is over; we'll take the car in for service and only be out $100 or so and the entire thing will be forgotten. But what won't be forgotten is my Amazing day! And if I remember the other great things that happened, I'll let you know.

*update: 3. after car trouble I got to snuggle with a 3 week old baby girl 4. the Porters make a mean corn casserole

Advice

Everyone loves to give advice, few people actually like to hear it. I usually count that to be true for me, but as I've been to my zillionth baby shower and I'm still learning things, I think I'll be glad to have a gaggle of women in the area that have 'been there, done that' and already tried all of the brands of all of the swaddles and diapers and butt pastes.

Baby showers take up a lot of my time, I guess that comes with the territory of being friends with late 20's-something couples, almost all of whom are married. A friend recently had her shower and a few months ago she had the brilliant idea to gather all of the tidbits she could from the moms and compile them into a book.

I've decided that I'm going to get my hands on it, package it, and start giving it as a gift to my pregnant friends both here and elsewhere. I know there are millions of books on parenting and pregnancy and babies and baby products, but what could be better than true blue "I tried this and it was awful" or "I tried this and it saved my sanity" from someone you know?

I can't tell you which baby bottle is best for weening, or which cloth diaper brand is best for nursing babies, but I can certainly point you to the women who can - and I know I'll be knocking down their doors one day with questions and looking for hand-me-downs!

What a gift to have such great fellowship and to have the luxury of so many of them going first!

Oh, and another benefit: I just received a great stash of gender neutral baby gift bags from a pregnant friend - it will save us some money for a while, but I bet you $20 I'll run out by the fall!

Wordless Wednesday

Graduation

Frank graduated from the George Mason University School of Law this past Saturday. We're both glad to have law school behind us, but we're quick to remember that the Bar exam is still in front of us.

We celebrated with family and friends throughout the weekend. We started with a personal tour of the Pentagon on Friday afternoon. They don't let you take pictures there, so you'll just have to imagine what we (Me, Frank, Tina, Dad, Patrick, and Matt) looked like.

On Saturday was the actual graduation. Frank's parents, Dad, Patrick, and I all attended.




We managed to find Frank's favorite professor, Professor Krauss, outside after the ceremony where they had a quick (loooooong) chat about something interesting (not that interesting). :)


And I managed to strike up a conversation with Justice Mims, the graduation speaker for the ceremony. He was a nice guy and had some great words of encouragement for Frank as he starts his own practice.


Then we had some more family and friends over for a cook out. Judge Wooldridge came by for a bit which was really great. He has been a wonderful mentor and friend to Frank throughout law school. He's also just an all around nice guy.


Dad enjoyed getting to spend time with some of the Webb and Dickson clans. He hadn't seen any of them since the wedding, and I think everyone enjoyed hanging out in a smaller (and less crazy) setting.


The hound behaved - only because we bribed him with a huge bone. He would occasionally look up, but then go right back to chewin'.


Our friend Anna let us borrow her cornhole set, it was a hit with our friends as well as with Frank's younger cousins!


Some of the guys from Frank's wedding party brought their mugs to toast Frank's graduation.

On Sunday morning we went to the early service at church, then headed out to Vienna to my aunt and uncle's house for brunch. The food was AMAZING! I warned Aunt Susan that we may begin showing up on a regular basis on Sundays!

Loving Well

I just returned from a weekend in Front Royal, VA with my church's women's retreat. We did a Beth Moore study on "Loving Well."

First, Beth Moore is a total trip and I wish she were my aunt or something. She is one of those people that you just want to know! What an infectious passion for scripture and for teaching!

It was great to spend so much quality time with other women in the church, I came away with some new friends and strengthened relationships with old ones.


I highly recommend any studies with Beth Moore, and I also recommend going to the mountains with some awesome girls for a peaceful weekend!

Failure

It has become clear to me that I need to schedule and plan out my blogging each week because if I wait for "something exciting" to happen I'm usually not near a computer and then I forget.

For now I'll promise to try harder. I'll also complain about the weather and tell you about my weekend plans.

The weather stinks! It is late April (almost May) and it is FREEZING here! As if this past winter wasn't torture enough, now spring pretends to arrive and then goes away again, making me pull sweaters and wool suits back out of storage.

Our house has been so cold for the past week that I've even considered switching back to the down comforter from the cotton one. Ugh.

This weekend is supposed to be nice...but I'll pack a coat just in case.

I'm going to Front Royal, VA for a women's retreat with our church. I'm pretty psyched about it for lots of reasons:
1. Lots of fun girls are going, we'll have a group of at least 8-10 in the 27-32 range.
2. S'mores on Saturday night.
3. A weekend long Beth Moore study on "loving well."
4. "free time" on Saturday during which I have been given permission to take a nap! (Thank goodness, I need the rest)
5. Back home by mid afternoon Sunday so I won't feel rushed on Monday.

I'm hoping and praying for nice weather, the kind where you wake up and it is a little chilly but the sun comes out and warms everything up nicely. But again, not holding my breath.

Easter at Cherrydale

Easter Sunday was our first day in the new sanctuary at Cherrydale, and it was beautiful! Here is a glimpse of our new sanctuary from the balcony.


I played my violin in all three services - I was terrified because it has been so long since I played - so I spent about 5 hours at church and got to hear the sermon and testimony 3 times. It was fantastic! I love a good Easter sermon, and Pastor King really knows how to give 'em.


I love Easter Sunday for so many reasons, but one of the things I like best is that every church is packed to the gills for every service.

The message we get to hear at Easter every year is one of the best! I know that many churches have members that can't come every week; missionaries, shut ins, some who are too sick or elderly, and I love seeing so many of them at the holidays. Some people just aren't church-goers for any number of reasons, but I love seeing those people, too! Having a full church didn't help my nervousness on the violin, I just hope I didn't scare anyone off.


If seeing a large crowd that morning, or knowing that it is one of the High Holy Days, or having family in town, or plain old curiosity is what brings people into church for those holidays, that is fine with me. Easter is such an amazing opportunity for the church membership to reach out to others in the community and to give them the chance to hear the Good News, to maybe have a seed of faith or hope planted in their hearts.

The sounds of metal folding chairs being brought in is music to my ears on these special days. I loved seeing a full house this Sunday! I thought it was crazy that we had to bring in extra chairs in the brand new (bigger) sanctuary, and I'm so glad that that many people came to hear the Good News!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday full of hope and joy. And I hope you took time to say 'hi' to a couple church visitors, you never know what a smiling face and welcoming hand shake can do when God is involved.

This is a picture of our new sanctuary from the outside. There is more work to be done, but we're so grateful for the new space and the growth that Cherrydale has been experiencing that made this new space necessary! I hope we keep growing and growing and growing - and as many babies as I saw on Sunday I'd say we're growing!


I hope that Frank and I can share this great church with more and more of our friends here. We've made so many wonderful friends at the church, I think it is time we start sharing our church with our friends! Let me know if you are looking for a good place to worship, cause I've got one for you - and they won't let you off easy, either, get ready for a new wave of friends when you come!

Don't drink the water

I just came home from a lovely baby shower. Good friends, good food, a pregnant lady that could go into labor any time between today and march 3rd - you know, the usual.

Only there was something else there, too...4 other pregnant people! And I have my suspicions about another person there that I also think may be pregnant, but I'm not sure yet. There are so many babies in our Sunday School class that I'm losing count.

When Frank and I joined our Sunday school class it was about 6 couples and no one had kids. two and a half years later there are at least 15 couples and 5 babies and 5 more pregnancies. And that is just the ones I can think of off the top of my head! I'm sure I forgot someone, I just know it.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, if you are looking for some great friends you could very easily find them at Cherrydale Baptist, but if you don't want to get pregnant don't drink the water (or coffee) there, I think they spike it.

Wednesday Nights

Wednesday nights are for small group. I love, love, loooove our small group. It is such a cool and random group of couples, we're all so different! And we eat dinner together each week before diving into our study. Tonight the theme is Asian.

Frank and I are bringing drinks/plates/cups/napkins. Usually Frank would see this theme as a challenge and would whip out the Wok and make something super awesome - but we can't find our stove under the mountain of stuff yet, so we're on paper product duty.

We've been with our small group for a long long time now, they are like our little family. I'm so grateful for those relationships and the trust we all have in one another. They are such a blessing to us, and I hope we are a blessing to them, too.

Two of our small group couples are the ones that swooped in and helped us unpack on Sunday evening - that is the kind of friends that they are. On a snowy, cold, Sunday night they came into our mess with smiles and open arms ready to help us get settled. You can't ask for anything better than that.

What a special bond a small group provides, something I never really understood until we became part of it.