1st Birthday!

Today is Eamon's first birthday. I have been remembering what I was doing a year ago. At this point I was sleeping and waiting for them to bring him back, once his lungs got cleared out and he could breath better. What a crazy week that was!

Today we don't have anything much planned. We have a cake and a few little presents, but we are saving some for next week when everyone is home and we can celebrate lots of birthdays.

I would post some birthday pictures, but my computer power supply broke last night, so I am using my husband's computer until Monday or Tuesday.

It also happens to be my sister's 21st birthday! I wish I could celebrate with her today.

And I have two friends who are expecting. We will see if their babies' will share Eamon's birthday.

Bummer - kind of

So Eamon's cold turned into another ear infection - not two weeks after his previous one. This time we have a different antibiotic - that made him throw up all over me - and an urgent care visit. He seems to like to get sick on the weekend. He will be fine until Friday at 5:00, then he will get sick. And there goes the weekend.

That meant we didn't get to go to Katana for Thomas' birthday meal, but it did mean that we had a Hobbit-ish supper. We had bacon and mushrooms, cheese and tomato omelets, bread, and special applesauce. And tea. It was very yummy. Then we watched "Concerning Hobbits" and most of Bilbo's Party.

All in all, it could have been a bad day, but God was gracious and helped us respond in good and positive ways to bad things that happened. And it turned out not to be such a bad day. Though I don't know that it is a day that I would want to repeat anytime soon - because the bad parts were so uncomfortable for poor baby, and the good parts - the food - would make us fat if we repeated it too often.

Now I am just rambling. Sleep-deprived brain... Good night.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day

I wore a bandana this evening to celebrate. And said "Arr" several times. I know, compared to other years, that is pretty lame. We even had spaghetti for supper. How un-piratical.

However, while I was at Wal-Mart, I found on the clearance rack a little onsie that had a skull with a bandana and said "Ahoy, mates..." on the front, and "...and I've loaded my booty" on the back with some crossbones. I will get some picture of Eamon wearing it soon, but tonight he was too tired and grumpy.

Projects

I don't have pictures for most of these projects, but this is what I am working on currently, besides all the normal stuff like house, family, and ESL. I have discovered that by having a creative outlet, I am better able to do everything else. Duh. People have known this for ages, but I am just now putting it into practice.

1. Kate's cookbook. I have meant to write this ever since she went away to college, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Now I am writing out some simple recipes gathered from several places or ones that I have come up with by altering existing recipes. It is hard work to write a cook book. I sympathize greatly with Julia Child in Julie and Julia right now. And I am not even writing down complex recipes!

2. Gifts. I made a dragon shield and fairy wings for two children of our friends. The shield was left from our Girls' and Boys' Club. Not trusting my artwork, I found a clipart of a rampant dragon, enlarged it, and printed it out. Then I painted it green, with red wings and belly, and yellow teeth, eyes, and claws. Then I cut it out and Mod Podged it to a grey shield with a blue boarder. I then gave it several coats of Mod Podge. This was my first experiment with Mod Podge and I realized after the fact, that I should have coated the back of the paper to help it stay stuck, or put a thicker base coat down. It just got a little wrinkly but it still looked really good.

The fairy wings were a piece of filmy fabric cut in a shield shape with a ribbon to tie it on as a cape, hair-ties to loop around the arms and colorful ribbons along the edge to make it more fluttery. I have mentioned this before, but in this project my grandmothers sewing machine with the amazing edger foot saved so much time and energy.

Both kids seemed to love the gifts, so I am happy with them.

3. Skirt. Using the same edger foot, I am experimenting making a patchwork skirt. The previous tiered skirt that I made likes to fray on the inside, so by using the edger food, there are no open edges on the inside. It seems to be working so far, but I will have to see how it holds up to the wear and tear of use.

4. Story. I started writing a story that has been in my head for about a year now. I am taking my time with it and using lots of description, so I don't think it is very good right now. But hopefully by getting it out of my head, I am able to work with it and make it better.

New Perspective

I've grown up on Shepherding a Child's Heart. The author was my pastor; it shaped the way my parents raised me; I have heard it taught in church; I have heard it applied to the classroom; and I have even taught it. But until now, I have never read it. To be perfectly honest, I still haven't read it completely, but I am reading it now.

It has been good. I would recommend it to parents to help think through the issues behind parenting. I haven't gotten to the practical stuff yet, but it has helped me think through why I do things they way I do them and what I want to convey about God and the world through my parenting.

It has also made me rethink the way I view God. In Chapter 4: You're in Charge, it talks about the difference between corrective and punitive discipline. Punitive discipline has its foundations in justice. Because you did___ you must pay___. Corrective discipline's goal is to bring an erring person back to the path of blessing. In other words, disobedience is walking away from God, corrective discipline brings the child back. Unfortunately, it can look the same as punitive discipline. Because you did____ you must pay___. The difference is in the intent.

Because they look the same, I have struggled with feeling like God, my Father, is using punitive discipline on me when I face trials. I don't think I would have said it that way, but I just realized that my subconscious was taking it that way. When something bad happened, I would try to figure out what I did wrong to make my life so miserable. If something bad happened, I must be at fault.

Our church's recent study of the Atonement only intensified this feeling of guilt. God had to punish Jesus because he can't stand sin. So the full punishment of our sins fell on Christ. It seems like God used punitive discipline on Jesus, so he can use corrective discipline with us. He punished his Son, so he can correct his children. It didn't make sense to me. None of the analogies and theologies explained this disconnect. And instead of freeing me to live richly in the forgiveness of Jesus, I felt God's condemnation on me for sinning so that Jesus would have to die in my place.

Last night, however, Thomas read to me from "The Doors of the Sea" and things began to make sense. In fact so much sense that it feels like a great weight has been lifted off my mind and heart. God hasn't brought bad things into my life to punish me. Bad things happen because this is a fallen world. Sin is in the world and affects all parts of the world. That means that the death of my baby and Eamon's sleepless nights are not punishments from God, they are the result of living in a fallen world. Rather than God making Eamon stay awake to teach me a lesson, it lets me see Eamon's teething causing him pain, and pain is a result of the fall.

My response to the trials in life can then be compassion for the suffering and submission to lessons God wants to teach me through the suffering I am going through. Rather than, "God, what are you punishing me for?" it becomes, "God, what would you have me learn through this fallen situation." It is a change of perspective that lets me submit myself to God, rather than feeling beaten down by him. It has allowed me to see his love in all situations and give thanks to his blessings all the more.

And it makes Jesus' sacrifice very beautiful. I am not sure I understand all the theology of it yet, but I can believe that Jesus paid for my sin out of love now. He loved me so much that he experienced the sin of the world, the pain, the separation from God the Father, the bitterness of life in a fallen world, and even death. Now I know he is with me in times of trouble and pain. He could have stopped himself from experiencing any of it; but if he had, he would have been unable to be with me in my suffering. Rather he experienced it all because he wants to be with me, and to help me be like him.

Like I said, I don't have it all figured out yet. And part of me hopes I never do, because I am so amazed and full of love for God that I want to keep searching. I understand Paul's prayer, and now it is has become mine too.

Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Gorilla

Eamon says "Gorilla" now, except it sounds more like "Go i ga." One time this morning there was an "r" sound, but only once. He really likes the pictures of gorillas from the zoo trip.

 

 

11 months

It has been a busy month. Lots of things have happened, and Eamon has grown and developed so much. Every day I look at him and think how adorable this little boy is and I want to capture it so I can remember. But it goes so quickly, I don't get the chance to do preserve nearly as much as I want to.

Sleeping: We were getting on a pretty good routine, kind of... There was about a week when he only woke up twice in the night. But with so many teeth coming in, the cold, the ear infection, evening events and such, sleeping hasn't been very regular. He naps fine when he is on me or touching me, but not so well on his own. Some nights are better than others. Since his sickness, we haven't had a good night yet, but that isn't too surprising. He just finished his antibiotic this morning, and at least one more tooth is working its way through, so I think he hasn't been very comfortable. Poor baby, but I hope it gets better soon.

Eating: He still likes to eat. His nurses every 3-4 hours, but he get so distracted that sometimes he doesn't eat very well and wants to snack at 3 hours then really nurse at 4 hours. I am not ready to wean him yet, and I don't think he is quite ready either, so I am trying to make him wait to eat until he is really hungry. Some days it works, others it doesn't.

Development: He has stood by himself several times for short periods of time, but he doesn't like trying to walk by himself. He likes "cruising" around the furniture, under the table, and through the kitchen. Now that he can crawl so well, he doesn't seem to care to try walking. When I try to get him to walk, he just crumples his knees and crawls. However, we take "walks" both around the house, and up and down the sidewalk. We have met some neighbors that way, and discovered rocks.




Within the past week, he has a new snuggly and blanket. Right now, his favorite stuffed animal is his monkey. He also likes his cat, but the monkey gets grabbed more often. He likes chewing on his tail. He doesn't have to have it to sleep or to be happy or anything, but if he has his toys around him, he goes for the monkey first. However, he does seem to sleep better with his little fingers wrapped around a silky nightgown of mine. It was a pale yellow rummage item, but I loved its color and feel, so I kept it. Eamon likes it now, especially pulling off the lace, so I have given it to him. If I remember right, it was about this age that I found my Silky - an nightgown of my mother's.

He enjoys listening to music. His current favorites are "The Piano Guys" on youtube and the Final Fantasy concert. We also listen to Matt and Shannon Heaton, Michael Card's lullabies and Peter, Paul, and Mary a lot. Together we sing all sorts of Sunday School songs and children's folk songs and nursery rhyme songs. He likes the "Isty, Bitsy Spider" song a lot and "I Love You, a Bushel and a Peck." Of course there are also the songs we make up too.

He also loves his books. The other day we played a "game:" who was faster, me cleaning up the books, or him getting them out? I won in the living room, he won in the kitchen. He likes his animal sounds books and "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb"when we read books together, and when he is on his own, he likes the Noddy Book and a family photo album I made for him. He likes turning the pages the best, but is beginning to look at the pictures.

He says "Dada" pretty regularly both when he sees Thomas, and when he doesn't, so sometimes it is babble, and sometimes it means "daddy." His word for cat (gat) and his word for dog (gogd) sound different from the other sounds he makes, and they kind of sound like the real words, so I count them in his vocabulary. He said Momma the other day, but hasn't since, so I haven't counted that yet. He has another word that he uses when he wants something. I think it is "get," but I am not sure.

He knows the words for many other things but he doesn't say them. Doorbell, Snoopy, Cheerios, food, apples, bananas, books, monkey, sleep, and a few others he responds to. He will also point to my nose, ears, and teeth when asked. He recognizes monkeys, gorillas, lions, cats, and dogs. The other day he say a picture of a lion from across the room and got pretty excited about it. He doesn't seem to understand verbs yet, but he gets the gist of what we want him to do, and does pretty well at telling us what he wants us to do. When we don't do it, he is also very good at letting us know that he is unhappy with the situation. It has been interesting to watch his little personality start to come out with his likes and dislikes, wants and needs. It must be very difficult to be a baby and know what you want, but not understand why you can't have it. We say, "Don't fight Mommy (or Daddy)," and "Trust Mommy (or Daddy)," very often when he is displeased with us.

He currently has 6 teeth, 3 or 4 came this month, and I am pretty sure he is working on at least one more. They are in such a funny configuration. His bottom row looks lopsided and his top look like fangs. In the picture, you can kind of see that he has 1, 2, and 4 on the top (3 is the one he is working on now) and 2, 3, 4 on the bottom. Because of these teeth, he is chewing on everything! books, wires, highchair, radiator, cupboards, floor, benches, cloth, shoulders, finger, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

We have also discovered that he is both rather cautious and often frightened, especially now that he pays attention to more things. Loud noises sometimes frighten him, lots of strangers unnerve him, and the first time he encounters something new, he wants to make sure I am right there with him. I am not sure, but he might be afraid of the dark and of thunder. I am beginning to memorize Psalm 91 so I can remind him in the dark, that not only I am with him, so is Jesus.

I am enjoying him more and more each day, especially as he is learning to interact and play, not just nurse and poop and chew on things. I am also getting less and less done because he wants my attention more, and I like giving it to him, but we will have to work on that.

20 days until his birthday!

Kima and Dhal

These recipes are from the "More with Less" Cookbook. This cookbook and it sequel "Simply in Season" are some of my favorite cookbooks for their practical advice and suggestions for alterations. On almost every page there are little blurbs from people who made the recipes, but changed it a little bit. And with some, they have meal suggestions and other options and substitutions. These tidbits have helped me be able to read a recipe and figure out what I can substitute based on what I have in my cupboard.

Pakistani Kima
Serves 5-6

Saute in skillet:
3 tbsp butter or magerine
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
Add:
1 lb ground beef
Brown well. Stir in:
1 tbsp curry powder (I use Sharwood's medium curry. Since curry is a blend of spices, it is important to find one that you like. Not all curry is equal.)
1 1/2 tsp salt
dash of each: pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric
2 cups cooked tomatoes (I used canned diced tomatoes that I buy from the store.)
2 potatoes diced
2 cups frozen pea or green beans
Cover and simmer 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Serve with rice.

Dhal
Serves 7-8 (depending on how much you like it!)

Soak 3-4 hours or by quick method*:
1 cup dried split peas or mung beans
2 1/2 cups water
Add:
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne red pepper
1 tsp salt
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer 20-30 minutes. (I found that it took closer to 40 minutes before the peas were soft enough.) Peas should be tender and beginning to disintegrate. Add additional water if need to maintain thick gravy consistency.
Saute in small frying pan:
3 tbsp margarine or butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced lengthwise (I think I will dice or chop them in my food processor the next time. It was a little stringy.)
1 tsp whole cumin seed
10 whole cloves
5 whole black peppercorns
Fry until onions are well browned (10-12 minutes). Add onion mixture to cooked peas and set aside until near mealtime. Reheat before serving. Serve as a sauce to be placed over rice.

*Quick method: Boil the beans in the water for 2 minutes then turn off the heat and let sit for one hour.

The biggest problem with these recipes is that they use so many dishes. After making these is one of the times I wish I was a chef and had a "Linguini" to help me with the dishes and clean up. When you are all done, you have a pot from the kima, a pot from the dhal, a pot from the rice, and a small skillet from the onions, as well as various spoons, ladles, knives, cutting boards, etc. I had a lovely lady help me with the dishes, so I am not complaining. However, in attempts to help you be prepared, I am warning you, it does make a lot of big dishes. They wash pretty easily though.

I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think of it if you do!