Posting??

So I haven't posted in a while, it feels like. There really isn't much that's happening around here, to blog about.... Here are some highlights o the week...

• After Finnegan's big fall on Wednesday, he had his first nose bleed on Friday! That was exciting!
• We visited a friend of ours in town who had a new baby last week. Finn and I went over and took her some meals and played with her daughter for a bit. It was nice to see a new born baby. But amazing too, to think that my little guy was that small!!
• Today we had a mommy and daddy date with Finnegan. We still have a few make ups to do at Gymboree and so we went as a family today. And of course I forgot my camera. But Finnegan had a good time with Daddy, especially! What a special time it was for us to play together.
  
• On the weight front, I'm a little frustrated still. I've not only broken the plateau, but gone in the wrong direction. I am hoping its because we've been doing sculpting ths week and I'm gaining muscle mass. And although the scale is up by 2 lbs, I really don't feel like I've gained 2lbs. I feel good about how I look. I keep working out each day and we're plugging along. So whether or not the weight is moving, I'm still doing right by my body. :)
• Ken and I went on a date last week to see Revolutionary Road... It was pretty good. Nothing, I'd own, but definitely I enjoyed the Winslet/DiCaprio duo.
  
• We have a Super Bowl Party tomorrow. I've made Tomatillo Salsa Verde. Hopefully it will taste good. If so, I'll post the recipe. I've never used Tomatillos before, but I'm excited to see how they taste.
  
• I've been freezing the last week. And complaining all the way. So this week, instead of buying a Snuggie, I pulled out my fleece robe that I got for Christmas several years ago. I feel like an old lady who walks around in her robe all day, but its the only solution that I can come up with for staying warm :)
  
• I have begun cropping the over 400 photos I have from our vacation so that I can start on Finnegan's scrap book. I also realized that I bought, WAY too many photos. But when 5 people took photos, and your ordering from 5 (or more) albums, it's hard to remember which other photos you purchased. :) So, the extras will go in Finn's personal photo album that Aunt Kate got him for Christmas.

Have a great weekend. Hopefully I'll have more to talk about next week... perhaps I'll do a review of Superbowl commercials.

Oh, we're rooting for Arizona Cardnals, as a hopeful revenge for John McCain! :)

Finnegan meets the Coffee Table

Here are some photos of Finnegan's "run-in" (literally) with the coffee table leg. Today, he was playing and watching the dogs run around. He was on his knees and I think he was attempting to stand up, and he feel into the coffee table leg. Immediately, he started crying and I rushed over to him, because I knew it was a bad fall. I scooped him up quickly and tried to comfort him and he was crying much harder than I'd heard him in a long time (as we are in the days of lots of falls, bumped heads and slips). I tried to lean back to see where he'd hit himself, and then I noticed it, this HUGE goose egg on his forehead. I went quickly over to the freezer to get a cold pack, but knew he wouldn't keep it on his head. I picked up my phone to call a friend who lives close. She's like a mom to me, and I knew she could look at it and tell me if I should take him in. I called her, and there was no answer. So I called her daughter to see if she was at her house. As I began to talk to Shawnta and tell her what happened and I began to get panicky. She was quick enough to pull out the "What to expect: The Toddler Years" book, and flip through the first aid section. I pulled my book out too, but couldn't find a darn thing!! She read that perhaps I should take him in to the doctor. So I quickly put our shoes on and got us in the car and over to the walk-in clinic.

We got there within 10 minutes of the accident and waited to be seen. While we waited, Theresia, Shawnta's mom arrived to wait with us. She was so supportive and helpful. The doctor saw us and said that although he looked ok, he wrote up his accident as a mild concussion without the loss of consciousness. He was acting ok, and eating a bit, but it was right at nap time, and I wasn't sure if I should put him down and wake him up each hour... I just wasn't sure.

The doctor sent us home with a list of "what to watch for" and a good sense of security that our little boy would be ok, dispite how ugly this bump looks. :)

We went home, he feel asleep while I was giving him his medicine and slept for 3 hours (nap). After the nap, he came down and asked for milk, went to the pantry and pulled out the cherrios and sat on the carpet with his milk and cherrios. It was the cutest thing!! :)

Here are some more photos:

From above. You can see the bump on the left hand side. These were taken about an hour after it happened.


And the side view.



And from the other side...

Discipline

Ok, so not the discipline that I'm dealing with my child... well I suppose these thoughts could be applied to that as well. But today, after a discussion with my sister, I've been thinking about discipline. I've mentioned to my work out partner, in the last couple of weeks, how I get so frustrated that things just can't be easy. It can't be easy to lose weight, and its not easy to keep a budget and it's not easy to maintain all the relationships that are important to us. Why is it so hard?

My friend reminds me that losing weight, keeping a budget, even being a dedicated Christian, is all about that, BEING DEDICATED. Just because I work out once, doesn't mean I'm gonna lose 20lbs. And just because I think about handling my money right, doesn't mean I'll save every extra penny. I have to make intentional plans and take intentional steps towards those goals.

From my last post, you can tell that I've been really frustrated with my weight loss progression over the last 3 weeks. I'm frustrated that my body thinks that it's being starved to the limit that it refuses to lose any more weight. WHAT??? I woke up this morning and almost called my friend and cancelled on her... because really. What's the point? My body's not responding to the work outs and I'm not losing any weight.

But in the same light, when I hit a plateau in my relationships with my husband or Jesus, do I just give up, and go back to doing MY thing. I would hope not. I still have to facilitate conversations and get to know them and make an effort to make the relationship work. The same I feel goes for weight loss. You must find ways around the plateau. I need to work around it and take a few extra steps to get myself over the hump. UGH!!!

Why doesn't working out, relationships, budgeting, etc, seem to get any easier the more you do them? It seems that there are also days that you just "fall off the wagon". You don't watch that budget for one week and your REALLY in the hole. Or you don't watch those calories or don't work out (or maybe both) for a whole week, and you've gained 3 lbs! Or what about those relationships that you don't mend, or give anything towards, and then you get back together with that person and realize that there's something "missing".

Discipline is what ties all these things together. I don't think that at any age, or any experience, discipline gets any better. I remember going to school and getting so frustrated at the people who school came so easy too. They could hear a lecture once and remember every word. Or writing that paper was just so easy for them. I don't think that has to do with discipline. I don't know what controls that, perhaps just God given talent. And we each have a part of that, but its all in different areas... But we each need discipline in particular areas of our lives. And discipline isn't easy. And most definitely not fun! But when you're disciplined, you are a more in depth person. It also seems that it never gets easier. There is never a point that you reach with any discipline where your not effected by a slip up. I suppose that's part of being human!!

Odds and Ends...

So just a few notes for the day, before I go to sleep...

• I miss my family today. I wish I could be at home helping my parents move into their new house.
  
• Finnegan's been trying my patience the last few days with the hitting and throwing of toys. I take away at least 5 different toys each day because of throwing. Today, I even took away all the blocks because he was throwing them. And the hitting... Oh, who taught this kid to hit?? Each time, we go to time out. Today we did 3 time outs in a row, because he'd get to the end of a time out and he'd hit me again. Oh!! But then later in the day, I was making dinner and he just walked over to the time out corner and just stood there for 10 seconds (we normally stand 20-30 seconds (and I count outloud) when he's in trouble). Then he just went about his business. :)
  
• Ken spent some time with Finnegan tonight which was really nice. They played and picked up toys together. I always feel better about my life when the toys are picked up when Finnegan is sleeping :) I HATE stepping over the toys when no one is playing with them!
• I've hit a plateau with my weight loss, and it's really bothering me. I've been hovering at the same weight for 2 weeks now (after I gained 2lbs back). I just can't get them off and it makes me mad. I know that I'm working hard, but it's just a reminder that sometimes it's just not enough. Ugh!!! Frustration, for sure!! And disappointment!! But hopefully the weight will come off... one day!
  
• Ken is so busy with his school work. I can't tell you how excited I will be when he graduates. We'll just have time to sit together, and he won't get home and go straight to the computer and stay there all night. We might even go to bed at the same time for once in A LONG TIME!!! Oh man. He's so dedicated and I really appreciate it. And I know the project is time consuming and really important, but I am just excited to be married to someone who is only working, not working and going to school too -- seeing that he's been in school ever since we've been married :)

Ok, enough complaining and whining. Just a bit down today, I suppose.

What is worse.... Guantanamo or faciliating murder?

** For months, I've been confused on why so many of my friends voted for Obama. Many of them have written thesis' about why they wouldn't vote for McCain. But I've yet to hear a detailed view of why someone wanted to vote for Obama. I don't post this to be rude or disrespectful. I just don't understand where Obama is coming from or what his agenda is. So, here's the first of many posts that I will throw out ther to try to understand this man that I don't get, but want to respect for his position.**

Ok, So I'm having a little bit of a problem. I'm having difficulty deciding which is worse: Guantanamo or facilitiating murder... Ok, so Guantanamo Bay is a detention center in Cuba for "enemy combatants". Essentially it is one of the locations that the United States holds those it caputres and believes has information regarding terror attacks, attempts and plans. Granted, there is controversy about its uses and practices, but it has proven to bring in "combatants" who are directly linked to Bin Ladan. And although it's practices aren't pretty, I believe that just "talking" with these criminals isn't going to make them spill their beans. (This is a touchy subject, and I dont really know exactly what I believe, but I do think that for the most part -apart from the aparant and clear cut wrong actions and practices - I believe that some of it's practices are helpful, useful and warrented methods of getting information, by those trained to do so for our safety and freedom.)

However, I believe that murder is wrong. I believe that abortion is wrong. So, to hear that President Obama has passed a bill that says that Guantanamo Bay will be closed within the year falls in line with what he promised while running. This signing was highly publicized by the media. However, they didn't highly publicize that he also signed another bill the next day to ban a bill passed by President Bush prohibiting government funds to aborition information and services. So, instead of using force to protect our people from terrorists and those who are close to Osama Bin Ladan (and others in Afganastan), he is now giving tax payer money to agencies who will administer aboritions to people here at home.

I just don't get it... So why again, reader, did you vote for him??

Ethan James Sapp

Our friends Heather and Brent, delivered Ethan James today, at 10:05am, January 24th. Although Heather was induced, she had a total of 4 hours of hard labor and with 2 pushes, delivered their son! What an amazing women!

Ethan has strawberry blonde hair, like his daddy, and has steel blue eyes. He looks much like his older brother :)

We are blessed to have this precious boy in our lives, even if he's a world away!!

A New "Sapp"ling

Most of you, if not all of you, haven't met our friends Brent and Heather Sapp. They were our dear friends when we lived in Blacksburg, VA. We met them at church and had a wonderful bond with them. We spent many game weekends and movie nights with them, as well as Heather was the one who taught me to make jam and can it! She and I bonded over baking and cooking. What a blessing they were when we were living close. Well, after we moved to WA in Jan 2005, they had their first son in Feb 2005. And although we've never met Garrett, he is the sweetest little boy and remembers us and is excited to hear from us.

Earlier this year, Brent and Heather had been told that they couldn't have any more children and obviously they were devistated. She has lupus and other health ailments that concerned them with her pregnancy with Garrett, so they weren't really suprised, but were saddened that they couldn't have more children without serious medical intervention or adoption (although those methods weren't ruled out). Well, about a year later, they are preparing to deliver their second son, Ethan James in a hosptial in NC. They've had a rough year, lost homes, and living with parents, and Garrett's health. So they are just exstatic about this new baby. They were admitted into the hosptial this evening for her induction. Please keep them in your prayers this evening as an induction isn't always the most pleasent way of birthing a baby :) Brent and Heather are just the sweetest "southern" couple that you'd ever meet. And they are so special to us, even through the distance... And Ken and I will also be Ethan's godparents, which builds another special bond between us. :)