I Blinked.

I promise, that's all I did. I blinked, and my baby grew up. Just a second ago, Cory was a sweet, cuddly little baby in my arms. Then just this second, he grew up into an almost-toddler. He'll be a year old in less than two months; can you believe it?

This year has gone by so fast - faster than any other year in my life. If time doesn't slow down a little bit, I'll be 80 tomorrow.

Cory can communicate. He signs "more" and "all done." He points at what he wants when he's eating. He nods emphatically and adorably. He says "ba" for bottle and banana, "pa" for pumpkin, "ma" for more (that was actually his first word, spoken about three weeks ago.) He says Mama and Dada (and yes, Dada came first).

He tries to put his shoes on his feet. He lies down when I tell him to, when he's trying to get up and should be napping. He tried to put my sunglasses on his eyes. He laughs when he sees someone in a hood. He's been cruising the furniture for at least a month now, and will be walking any day.



Cory eats everything and drinks water from a bottle that he holds himself. He likes to look at books if he's the one holding them and turning the pages as he pleases. Once he read a book while nursing; that was funny.

He babbles. He points to everything that he's interested in, especially animals and crepe myrtle trees (go figure!). He has a temper which shows itself generally when I take something away from him and manifests in screaming and going limp in protest. Sometimes arching the back or throwing himself over backwards. That's a fun one.

He wears jeans and sneakers and looks like a little boy. His hair is longer now, lighter brown than it was when he was first born, and wispy. His eyes are big, brown, and expressive. When he sees me from across the room or coming around the corner, he points. If I point back, he grins.



He likes to pull one sock off (see mower picture) when he's in his carseat. Why just one? He thinks it's funny if I tell him something is yucky, and he sticks his tongue in and out and makes funny noises to show me that he gets it. Then he puts the thing back in his mouth.

Speaking of tongues, Cory likes to turn his upside down. Or stick it out. Or suck in his top lip and stick out his tongue. He sleeps not so well, but I blame the teething, in part. The other part is...who knows?

Cory is a little shy. If someone talks to him, he tends to put his head down into my neck and hide, smiling coyly all the while. He gives hugs sometimes. He loves holding onto hair, and always has. His favorite position used to be sitting on my left hip with his right hand up on my shoulder and holding onto my hair. (See? I said "used to be." There shouldn't be any used to be's yet with this guy!) He grabs and releases my hair as he's going to sleep - hold, tug, rake fingers through, repeat. Sometimes he tries to hold his own hair, but he prefers someone else's.

Cory is a sweet, sweet boy. His babyhood is almost over. If you blink, you might miss it.

Iain-isms Abound

Iain, on checking the empty mailbox: This one is out of mail. I want to check another one.

Looking in the closet: I'm checking in to see if they have shoes. They do.

Just now, when I asked Iain what funny things he's said recently: Buuuum-py.

Sometimes at night, Iain and I have a little game where I tell him what things I love him bigger than/faster than/longer than/etc. One night, I said: Iain, I love you faster than a train. I love you louder than a train. I love you bigger than a train.
Iain: I like the train better.

Yesterday while driving, I had to stop rather quickly, as the truck in front of me slammed on his breaks. I asked the boys if they were okay and said something about the crazy drivers.
Iain: Yeah, and Mama is a a crazy driver.
Me: No I'm not!
Iain: Yeah, you stopped too fast.

Not particularly quippy, but cute: here's how Iain ALWAYS wants his drink.
Iain: May I have some cold-water-and-ice-please.

The other day while playing with Aunt Kelsey's hair (and later the exact same thing with my own hair)
Iain: I m going to do your hair a little bit because it's very long and fat.

This one takes a bit of explaining. Sore of our favorite movie quotes come from Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler. One of the characters, trying to get out of work, says in an over-the-top croaking voice, "Cough, cough. Deeds, I'm sick." So last week when Iain had his cough, I taught him to say that, so he could make Jeremy laugh with his cleverness. Iain added a hilarious voice, kind of between a croak and a growl, and now if anyone coughs, we hear the chirping, rasping voice say, "cough-cough-Deeds-I'm-sick" and then Iain waits with a grin for us to laugh, and we always oblige.

Tonight in the car, says Iain: Have to help me take off my thumb. (Iain pulls at thumb.)
Me: Why do you want to take off your thumb?
Iain: Because I don't like it.
Me: But I like your thumb.
Iain, wailing: But I don't LIKE it!

More to come, I promise!

Word Number 40,000

...is once again, "I."

:)

50,000 here I come!

The 25,000th Word

Since I wasn't very clear in my last post on this topic, let me try again. :)

During this month, I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. You log your word count at the NaNo website, along with thousands of other crazy people who are trying to accomplish the same goal.

It's been really great, though. I've had the story idea cooking (with help from my brilliant husband) for a few months now. (I've been planning on doing NaNo since last... what, June?) But one of the rules is you can't write ANYTHING before November 1. The first draft of the novel is supposed to be rough, they posit. And just writing and writing and writing is a great discipline to practice.

And they are right on both counts. My first draft is quite rough around the edges and has some holes, but by jove, it's being written! I have 26,300+ words right now, making this by far the longest single thing I've ever written. And I've written something every day except for two, which has been my favorite part - and my least favorite part. It means you still have to write when you're tired, you don't feel creative, or you'd rather just veg. It's kind of thrilling to make yourself write, to see where your characters take you.... And yes, I am a nerd. :)

So my 25,000th word: "see." Although I have to say, words 23,895 and 23,903 were, quite literally, "scintillating." Ha!

(Told you I'm a nerd. I get a rush from working that word into my novel not once, but twice. Maybe I need to get out more.)

Go here to check on my progress, if you're interested (or you can look at the graph on the sidebar), and feel free to leave threatening comments on the evils that will befall me at your hand if I don't make it to 50,000 by the night of November 30.

By the way, this month has been crazy! Besides the above mentioned insanity, Jeremy has been working practically round the clock to meet some deadlines at work, which leaves the boys and I far too much time to get into trouble. And we've all had this terrible cold. Here's what happens when all those things hit at once:

I Forgot One

As we were driving past a particular store the other day, Iain pipes up: "I want to go to 45!" Translation? 7-11. Apparently you just choose whatever number suits your fancy and call it that.

Funny, Funny Boy

Tales from life with Iain, in honour of his 26-month-birthday.



Iain pulls up a stool and says, "I'm going to sit on my sitting thing and think about Noah."

Iain likes to jump up and down in his crib and say "onion."
Me: Why do you say onion?
Iain: Because it's funny to make a word

Iain, at dinner, turns to Noah's mom Lauren Geiger and says, "May I have some treats, Geiger-Beiger?"

As he sits on a blanket on the living room floor, he points at me and says accusingly, "You want to bring me some food."

A song that he doesn't care for comes on (my goodness does he have opinions about songs!). He says, "I don't like this song. It's making me nervous."

Me: Iain, do you remember your dreams?
Iain (and he says this story verbatim every time I ask him this question): I was walking down the street and it was raining and the thunder went BOOM-off, and I went in the building and Noah was there and I chased him.

David, who works with Jeremy comments on the fact that Iain is walking around in Jeremy's shoes.
David: How did your feet get to be so big?
Iain: Because I am two.

Instead of asking "why?" like every other child, Iain says, "because..." and leaves it to you to fill in the blank. The past two days, he's added a "yeah." So now it's something like this:
Me: Iain, get your shoes on.
Iain: Yeah because...

Tonight I was commenting to Jeremy about the fact that Iain doesn't like the nail on one particular thumb to be clipped. He always tells me to be careful of the thumb. Jeremy asked him why he didn't like that thumbnail being cut, and he replied, without missing a beat, "Because it's long and hairy." What?!

Breaking News

This just in: Today, Cory has begun to go from sitting on the ground to hands and knees, to hands and feet, to STANDING UNASSISTED! And this before his ten-month birthday! Walking is just around the corner!


(This picture is from today, in the front yard in the warm sunshine and cool air. It was lovely!)

P.S. pray for us: Iain is pretty sick with a nasty cold, and the other three of us are fighting it.

Gifts This Day

45. Cory looks SO CUTE in his little blue turtleneck/
46. legos. They're very theraputic, you know. They always seem to fit together just right.
47. cool weather
48. old friends
49. There's this blue wooden block on my desk. It has a clock face painted on it, and doors below that. Whenever Iain plays blocks, he always brings me this one and says it's my house. Now he just wants it to stay on my desk all the time, and I do, too.
50. music, in general
51. and good books
52. and this quote: "Seeing our Father in everything makes life one long thanksgiving and gives rest of heart, and, more than that, a gayety of spirit that is unspeakable" (Hannah Whitall, Smith)
53. seeing the Body of Christ come together yesterday to put on a beautiful wedding for a friend. Working together, sharing time and talents, enjoying blessing a family that we love and that has blessed us all - this is what Christians should be known for.
54. new journals waiting to be filled
55. this picture, which makes me laugh. Cory looks like an alien baby, no?



56. Iain learned the word Amsterdam when Kelsey and Haylee went there earlier this year. It has become one of his favorite words. Only he has morphed it in true Iain style and now likes to randomly repeat Hamster-dampt.

My 10,000th word!

Are you ready for this? It was "I". I know, disappointing, isn't it? I was hoping for something more scintillating, like, well, "scintillating." Onward to 50,000!

We Voted!

And now we wait. In the meantime, I was glad to see that I should indeed be allowed to vote. How about you? Leave a comment and let me know.

You Should Be Allowed to Vote

You got 12/15 questions correct. Generally speaking, you're very well informed. If you vote this election, you'll know exactly who (and what) you'll be voting for. You're likely to have strong opinions, and you have the facts to back them up.

Should You Be Allowed to Vote?

Pumpkin Pumpkin!

October, even for those who don't celebrate Halloween, is the Month of Pumpkins. Iain is completely fascinated with them. He says, "We like those. God made them."

So in honor of the pumpkins, we made some! (Phyllis, this is the long-overdue craft post I promised!) I found this fun activity here. We made three: one for Miss Judy down the street, one for Grammy when we visited her, and one for us. Meanwhile, Cory played with a pumpkin-colored balloon from Publix.




The pumpkins are just paper bags with the corners poked in, stuffed with some crumpled paper, and painted orange. Then we tied curly ribbon on them for vines. Fun!





And to continue with our theme, Nona came with the boys and me to the pumpkin patch at the Methodist church nearby. My goodness, we took a lot of pictures! It's hard to get two squirmy boys to hold still and smile when there are pumpkins to be drummed on, hay bales to climb, and gourds to feel.

As I was scrolling through the pictures and listening to the Beatles, I had to laugh - the out-takes and crazy shots were so funny! So I'm going to try to make a slideshow set to music for your viewing pleasure. Here's a teaser:






I love fall!

Among the Tombs

“When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.”
(Luke 8:27-37 ESV)

The townspeople were used to this crazy, demon-possessed man living among their tombs. They were familiar with his shrieking, his lack of clothing, his astounding strength. They had a plan: when the demons seized him, they called in the guards and tied him down. Yes, he broke loose, but then he'd go off into the desert for a while. The system seemed to be working for them.

Nevermind the fact that this man was tormented, that he had legions of demons inside of him. The people were used to his pain. Maybe they felt no fear because they were so used to the evil.

But then, Jesus. He delivered this man, caused the demons to inhabit pigs. The man put on clothes. He was sane again. He sat at his Savior's feet, whole and complete and no longer tormented. And this, this scared the people. They had become so used to, so numb to the evil that the power of God and the lack of evil in their midst scared them. Jesus scared them. So they asked him to leave, and He did.

This sounds familiar to me; our society is so warped, so used to evil in all its many forms, that it's the good - the holy, the pure, the righteous, in short: God - that scares us. It's so far from the norm for us that it makes us uncomfortable, and we ask to be left alone. And so, in many ways, we are.

It makes me think of Halloween coming up. The holiday devoted to evil has become familiar to us; we have made it into family fun and we have made the scary things in the world into part of the game.

And let's make it personal, too: in what parts of my life have I allowed the evil or the ungodly to become the norm? What parts of my life have I chosen to allow to remain among the tombs because it's what I'm used to? What parts would the Lord like to touch, to change, to transform if only I would ask Him? Do I fear the unfamiliar holy more than the familiar evil? Do you?

Lord, let us be like the delivered man in this story, choosing to venture out with You into the unknown and holy, leaving behind the familiar evil. Let us never allow our fear to get the better of us, to cause us to ask You to leave us alone. May we always choose You. In Jesus' name, amen.

And More Gifts

(Iain, imitating Raffi, sings into his "microphone.")

33. The joy of the Lord, and His peace, and His rest, and, and, and....
34. a cool day today
35. Iain did a little better in nursery this morning
36. a good sermon that made me think (and is still making me think)
37. I made a new friend this week!
38. Jesus promises that His yoke is easy and His burden light
39. water, in general :)
40. my home - it's easy to get bogged down in the repairs, etc that older homes need. But it's a cozy little place and we are thankful for it!
41. the boys' naptime
42. pressed leaves
43. hearing Iain talk to Cory
44. Cory's funny, hoarse little grunt (wheeze?) of a laugh

A Call to Prayer

This is an excerpt of a letter that is being sent around various prayer groups. I feel like its message is important enough to post here. Again, the purpose of me posting political things is not to offend, but to inform and in some cases, persuade. This letter was written by Dutch Sheets. I know it's long, but please read it!

Dear Praying Friend,

In 2000, I wrote the 2nd most important letter of my life—a call to prayer for the elections of that year. I’m now writing what may be my most important letter. I knew the importance of those elections in 2000 was beyond any in my life up to that point and that the spiritual warfare surrounding them would be unlike anything any of us had ever seen. That letter was read by millions of people and I believe millions of them responded by praying. I also believe the prayers turned the tide.

You may question whether President Bush was the right choice; obviously, he has made some blunders in his tenure as president. But two of his decisions alone left no doubt he was God’s choice: Roberts and Alito.

These two Supreme Court Justices have proven critical in the process of breaking the hold of humanism, death and anti-God agendas that have ruled the Court for 50 years. I assure you that more devastation—the shedding of innocent blood, immorality, decay of the family and an erosion of our godly heritage—has flowed into our nation through that institution than any other door in America. Many times more. The poison allowed into America through their decisions is beyond any of our abilities to articulate. The reality in America is that you don’t need to control Congress or the White House to rule the nation. You only need 5 people – 5 out of 9 on the Supreme Court. And for decades those who disagree with just about everything you and I stand for have been in control!

In Bush’s two terms, the process of turning this around began with the appointments of Roberts and Alito. Now, we win some cases 5-4 and lose some 4-5. (We barely outlawed partial birth abortion. The vote of one judge saved thousands of babies from this horror.) We need one more conservative Justice for a consistent majority, then more to build a strong majority.

In Obama’s own words, “the next president will appoint at least one, perhaps two or more Supreme Court Justices.” He’s right. Almost certainly two or more older, liberal Justices are waiting until after the elections to retire, in hopes of Obama winning and appointing more liberals to replace them. And he certainly would. He voted against the confirmation of Roberts and Alito. So did Biden. And Biden led the fight against Justice Thomas several years back, another of the 4 solid conservatives. Make no mistake about it, the two of them do have a litmus test for Supreme Court Justices, and a major part of that test is Roe vs. Wade. McCain and Palin, on the other hand, both have very strong pro-life positions. This alone makes the choice for President simple. To vote for the 2nd and 3rd most liberal senators (Obama and Biden), both of whom are firmly and blatantly pro-abortion, would be unconscionable.

Obama has actually said that if he wins, he would like his first action as president to be the signing of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate every other law against any aspect of abortion (partial birth abortion, parental notification, etc., etc.). And with a democratic majority in the House and Senate, pretty much any legislation he and Biden want to pass will be a slam-dunk. There are many other unrighteous positions they hold but this position alone makes the choice easy. If they win this election, it will set America back decades in the cause of life and the restoration we seek.

Just as many of you do, I too, want to see a first black President, but not Senator Obama. To allow that noble and godly desire, the economy or one’s position on the war to trump this issue of life and death for the innocent unborn is simply wrong. The scriptures teach that if we choose first to exalt righteousness and turn from evil, God promises to heal our land (see Proverbs 14:34; 2 Chronicles 7:14). It is righteousness that exalts a nation, not wealth, prosperity or armies. If we will finish the process of removing the curses of death and anti-God laws off of America by electing a president that will continue to shift the Court, God will grace us with breakthrough in other areas such as the economy, the war against terrorism, etc. My faith is not in a person, and certainly not a political party, for the healing of America, but I know God’s word and His ways well enough to know that our decisions do move Him to action or inaction. Now to the heart of my reason for writing this letter (I realize I am “preaching to the choir”—most of you who know or listen to me are conservative enough to vote for McCain and Palin.)

I have not written any appeals for prayer concerning this election because:
1) others have, and
2) I believe our movement has matured to the point that the prayer base of the Church is already praying.

But I now feel the need to raise my voice. I am appealing to you to pray for these elections the next two weeks like you’ve never prayed for any in the past. Faithfully. Passionately. Boldly. Ask God for His mercy and grace. We deserve His judgment for removing His influence and authority from our government, schools, homes and businesses; for the killing of 50 million babies; for leading the world in the consumption and exporting of pornography; for passing laws to reject His; etc. But mercy triumphs over judgment and in His wrath He remembers mercy. In 2000 we actually lost the popular vote and won the election—talk about grace! Please pray for this grace to be released again....

I am in Washington, D.C. now (October 20-22) with Lou Engle and a team of prayer leaders from around the nation to war for this election. Join us! Lose some sleep, miss some meals— pray! Pray like never before for these elections.... Release Christ’s Kingdom rule in every way the Holy Spirit leads you.

Don’t be deceived and don’t lose hope (if you have to, turn off the TV.) It is not too late to turn these elections. God is plenty powerful enough to do so.... And remember, we don’t need a majority of Christians who are willing and able to do this—only a praying remnant. We can do it!

Here are some practical suggestions to consider:

1) Fast (a meal a day; a day a week; a Daniel fast; 3 days; 10 days; TV; etc.) and spend the time praying.
2) Agree in prayer with someone everyday for God’s will to be done.
3) Form/participate in prayer groups regularly. Churches could pray every day.
4) Take time in every gathering to pray. (Take 15 minutes in every service to pray for the elections. Turn an entire service to harp and
bowl style intercession—worship and prayer combined.)
5) Join 2 or more on a conference call and pray for 15, 20, or 30 minutes.
6) Pray on the way to work and on the way home.
7) Pray before you go to sleep.
8) Pray before church services.
9) Ask God to give you His strategy — He will!

In His grip,
Dutch Sheets

Mid-Week Gifts

18. play-dough and the minutes it affords me while Caiden and Iain play.
19. cool-ish weather
20. our small group that met here last night
21. peanut butter cookies with hershey's kisses on top
22. Cory learned how to give hugs
23. a good book to sink my teeth into
24. I get to play with flowers again, for Kristin's wedding in a few weeks
25. really good sermons by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church, on my ipod while I do dishes at night
26. baby laughs
27. Yesterday, Iain plowed Cory down (again), and before I could say anything to him, he put his arm around Cory and said sweetly, "Cory, I'm sorry that I knocked you down."
28. Iain singing, especially when he sings Big Rock Candy Mountain
29. story time at the library (that deserves a post all its own!)
30. double strollers
31. Cory is learning to drink water by himself!
32. Jeremiah 31:12 "...and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD... their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more."

Four Years!

On October 9, we celebrated our fourth anniversary. We've made it a tradition to go on a trip every year, but this year was a bit tricky with the two little guys. Solution? We went to Jeremy's parents' house for the weekend. They watched the boys so we could go out and enjoy some time together.

First, four years in review:

The Big Day: (we went to Scotland for our honeymoon - the first trip - but all my pictures are on paper, not digital.)


Our first anniversary: Charleston, SC


Our second anniversary (two weeks after Iain was born): Cedar Key, FL


Our third anniversary (I was six and a half months pregnant with Cory): Savannah, GA


Our fourth anniversary: Sarasota, FL (we should have taken a family photo there, eh?)


And some more pictures. Anniversary gifts:
From me:


From Jeremy:


From Jeremy's dad: (this is his car's sunroof; we got to drive it - the car, not the sunroof - all weekend. I really enjoyed it - the sunroof, not the car. Well, okay, the car, too. I give up!)


From the Creator:





While we were out, Iain spent most of his time doing this:


And Cory, whom I don't have a picture of, but who I promise was there, mostly crawled, chewed on things, and looked cute.

On to year five!

Natural Light

...makes for great colors in photos! Best ones of the morning:







The weather is beautiful today!

That Iain

My goodness, he is funny. Just now at lunch, for no reason at all:

Iain (nodding): Oh, we have a rope.
Me: What?
Iain (still nodding): Oh, we have a tractor, though.
Me: We do?
Iain (the nodding continues): And a spider, too.



There is a song that Pooh sings that goes a-like this:
Up-down, touch the ground,
Puts me in the mood,
Up-down, touch the ground,
In the mood for food.

Iain's version goes like so - and again, who knows why?:
Up-down, touch the ground,
Puts in me the moon,
Up-down, touch the ground,
In the mood for nuts.



And another song: the real words are "oats, peas, beans, and barley grow." Iain knows those words, and will sometimes sing them. But more often, he sings the words he made up. I like them better: "Oatsy, beansy, bonzy, bo."

Sticks and Stones

Overheard, at a PLAYGROUND! I am not making this up.

Now, now, no running. (what!?! On the playground?!)
Don't get dirty.
Use your inside voice. (Hello!! You are OUTSIDE!!)
No playing with sticks. Put that down.

Where have we gone wrong?

If I remember rightly, playing in the dirt, running, yelling, and playing with sticks are all birthrights of childhood. Oh my, we have become a weird, sanitized society when we can't even let our children do these things in the designated areas for doing these things! We've already fenced in and padded these playgrounds - which, I admit, is sometimes necessary because around the blissfully playing children lie highways with cars speeding past - and now we don't let the kids run? Use your inside voice? You've got to be kidding.







I understand having rules: don't hit your kid brother on the head with rocks. Don't poke each other in the eye. No rocks in the house where babies could eat them. But really, don't play with sticks? Don't throw sticks into bushes? (Iain asks me if he can do this every time we go to a specific park where he heard another mother telling her boys not to do it. I always say yes. Of course you can throw sticks into bushes!)





People always say that if you don't let your boys play with guns, they'll play with sticks like they were guns. What if you don't let them play with sticks? Will they pretend their crayons are sticks?





It just seems so crazy to me to not let your kid play with sticks and rocks. What else did God make them for?