James - 2 months

Time for a new picture of James! This week Sweet Baby James turned 2 months old. At 2 months he:

• Smiles a lot


• Eats every 3 hours but usually skips 1 meal during the night


• Is awake a lot more


• Loves to hear us sing to him


• Plays with his baby einstein gym


• Still loves to snuggle

He weighed 10 pounds 13 ounces, and measured 23 inches this week which puts him at the 30th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for length. I may be able to stop obsessively weighing him every week now. Then again, maybe not. He's growing out of his newborn size clothes but a lot of the 3 month stuff is too big. I'm remembering that Jeffrey always seemed to be in between sizes.

I finally got some baby announcements this week and plan to get them mailed this weekend. Two months went by so fast!

~Sharon

1 month

Sweet baby James is 1 month old!

Right now he:

* weighs 7 lb 12 oz

* eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours

* has started to smile

* loves to be held

* stretches his legs until they are completely straight

* loves to have his hands by his face

We are enjoying every moment we can with him. With Jeff beginning his senior year, we're all too aware how quickly all this will go.

~Sharon

James is here!

We are so happy that James Thomas is here!

Born: July 22nd, 11: 23 pm (23:23)

Weight: 5 lbs. exactly

Length: 18.5 inches

Sent and protected by God.

Ummm #2

Last Friday Jeff went to the high school formal with our homeschool group. I was so glad he wanted to go this year. I hope to post some pictures later this week. They had an hour at the church to take pictures and mingle before they went to dinner. While they were taking the pictures, some of us parents hung out and chatted.

One of the chaperones for the evening is a woman who is newer to the group and I really don't know her very well. She's just one of those people I'm not sure how to take.

She was very dressed up for the evening and I said to her, "You look lovely!"

She replied, "Thanks. ..... You look pregnant."

Okay then. It's good to know where we stand.

Sharon

Spring flowers

It's been a long winter here but things are finally starting to bloom outside. Spring flowers in my favorite flower colors: blue and yellow.

Ummm

Since I am 41 years old and expecting my second child, I've been getting some strange and stupid questions/comments. Here's my top 7:

#7 "You should have another one right away so this one doesn't grow up alone." Okay, first of all, I've never had that kind of control over my fertility. Second, Jeff has grown up as an only child for all of his 17 years so far and I happen to think he's a well-adjusted, kind, generally awesome person. Third, another baby at this age? Get real.

#6 "Whoops." Probably the most offensive, especially since it was from someone I barely know.

#5 "How old are you? If you don't mind my asking." I wonder what people would say if I responded, "Actually, I do mind you asking." I don't really mind but I just wonder.

#4 "Better you than me." Yep. Couldn't agree more.

#3 "Did you plan it this way?" Yes. I wanted to wait to see how my first child turned out before I had another one.

#2 "Are you showing yet?" I understand this question from people on the phone whom I haven't seen lately, but I don't understand this from people who are standing right in front of me. If you can't tell by looking, why ask? Then again, there are a lot of people who aren't asking they just talk to me while looking at my belly.

and the #1 stupid thing people have said to me: "You're just like Sarah!" (of Abraham and Sarah in the Bible.) Excuse me?! I'm 41 not 91!!

As you can see, it's bringing out my inner sarcastic self (okay, I don't have to dig deep for it).

Sharon

Snow, snow, snow!

We have been buried in snow here this winter. We had near-record snowfall in January -- I think we missed the record from 1978 by an inch. We had two storms which dumped about 12 inches each plus lots of days of snow flurries. I have to confess, I've had trouble seeing the beauty in it this winter. But one morning I was looking out the window and saw the sun shining on the snow and creating these lovely shadows so I went outside to try and capture it.




This winter, I've also been especially thankful for this handsome young man who has been our primary shoveler.


Thanks Jeff!

Autumn walk

After at least a week of cold, cloudy days, we finally had a nice day, so Brenna and I went for a walk this afternoon. Since she's a little chicken, this means a lot of coaxing and encouragement.



This is the look she gives me when I'm trying to get her to go somewhere unfamiliar. Roughly translated, I think this means, "You want me to go that way?! No, no, no. We don't know what might be that direction!"

Just in case I might be confused by her coming to a dead stop and leaning back, she shows me where she would prefer to go. "Wouldn't you rather go this way? I think home is this way. Let's just go home."

Usually, with encouragement, I can get her to overcome her fears or at least resign herself to the fact that I'm leading the way but today I had to stop and pick her up twice and carry her for 10 feet so we could continue our walk. I try very hard not to look up at passing cars when she's doing this.

I was so glad I took my camera along. The leaves are almost past their peak here but there are still some lovely ones hanging on.

~Sharon

Sharpie art

This is so cool. A man in Lexington, Kentucky decorated his basement with $10 worth of Sharpies. I love all the literary references in his art.

~Sharon

Orange & Yellow

Today's flowers are all in the yellow/orange/red spectrum. They're trying to get me ready for fall. Today is a beautiful, sunny day which is a nice change from the gloomy, cloudy, rainy week we've had so far.

Purple autumn flowers

Enjoying the last of the color before it's all gone. It's considerably colder this week and it will be winter before we know it. The last picture is actually a coneflower that didn't grow quite right but I think it looks interesting anyway.

~Sharon

The Last Rose of Summer

My last rose for this year. To hear the song by this title go here:

~Sharon

Mums

Power!

This is a picture of the house across the street as a small sample of the destruction in our neighborhood from Hurricane Ike. Thanks to good old Ike, we've been without power since Sunday night but finally last night, the electricity was restored. Hallelujah. Notice the white danger tape in the picture. That was all the evidence we had that the electric company was even aware we existed for the first three days. That wind was amazing though. God's power is truly awesome.

Being without power has its blessings.

* On our walks with the dog, we saw a lot more of our neighbors.

* We got to bed earlier than normal.

* Reading by candlelight is sort of fun.

* No recorded political phone calls.

* My refrigerator is very clean.

The worst part was not being able to make my coffee in the morning. Having to go out for coffee is so backwards. In order to go get coffee, I have to get myself ready to go out and face the day and how in the world can I do that before I have my coffee?! And without electricity to plug in the hairdryer. This morning as I made my coffee I said to Jeff, "Look at this coffee! Isn't it a beautiful thing?" Of course, being 16, he rolled his eyes and sighed and said, "It's just coffee, mom."

Jeff trying to figure out why we still had no power on Thursday.

Four crews showed up yesterday around dinnertime to begin working. These guys were all from Connecticut.

Finally, they got it all fixed. I haven't figured out how to take decent pictures at night yet.

I'm so thankful for power today!
~ Sharon

Random conversations

I was at the grocery store and I met this little old lady over by the cheese display. They had a sample plate out with crackers and a cheese spread (a small tub of cheese spread with some flavor in it). The cheese spread had been marked $30.0 and she was convinced she was eating thirty dollar cheese. Nothing I said would convince her that it was probably $3.00 and just got mis-marked.

She just took another cracker and smiled and said, "I just ate two dollars worth of cheese!" Later I saw her in the freezer aisle, chasing down another little old lady to tell her about the dove bars that were on sale. She was too cute.


***
One day last week a teen girl rang my doorbell. I seriously need to put up a sign that says, "If I don't know you, don't ring my doorbell." Usually, I just smile and talk through the window to the side of the front door but that day I was stupid and opened the door. She was with one of those junior achievement type groups that sends out groups of teens into an unsuspecting neighborhood to harrass the residents for no apparent reason. After we got past the "I'm with ___ and I'm just here to improve my communication skills" speech our conversation went something like this:

Her: So, like, I'm wondering what awesome skills you think I need for life? What awesome job do you have?

Me: I'm a stay at home mom.

Her: Awesome. You're a domestic engineer. Give me a high five on that. (raises her hand)

Me: I'm sorry. I just don't have time for this today. (I don't high five -- it's not really something I do.)

Her: (walking away muttering) You don't have to be rude about it.

Good night! Who trains these poor kids?


***

Wednesday at choir practice I was talking to a fellow soprano and I mentioned something about Jeff being 16.

Her: *gasp* You have a 16 year old?

Me: Yep. He's my only one.

Her: Do you mind me asking how old you are?

Me: I don't mind. I'm 41.

Her: *GASP* YOU'RE 41?!! I thought you were younger than me but you're OLDER!

Me: I guess so. Ha ha.

~Sharon
(trying to feel flattered but just feeling OLD)

First day of school - Grade 11

No new, cool backpack. No new box of crayons. But we still take time to take a picture for the first day of school.

Just for fun

41

Dara Torres is 41 years old.
As of last week, I too am 41 years old.

Last week the lovely Ms. Torres won two silver medals in the olympics.
Last week I tripped and fell on my face while walking the dog.

Quite sad really, but there it is.

(Bonus points if you can name the movie that last sentence came from.)
:o)

Olympics

I love the Olympics! I love the spirit of the Olympics. I love that the mens gymnastic team was thrilled with their bronze medal. I love seeing Michael Phelps win. I love it when the favorite wins (as long as it's not the French relay team), I love it when the underdogs win. I love staying up late and not getting enough sleep because the olympics are on.


The news people drive me a little crazy though.

* During the men's high bar event in gymnastics the announcer actually said, "High Bar 101: Grab the bar. Grab the bar." Really??

* The headline after Michael Phelps won the 200 butterfly was, "Goggle Gaffe." I like alliteration as much as the next person but leaky goggles do not qualify as a "social or diplomatic blunder."

* The worst is the MSNBC anchor in the afternoon. I don't normally watch MSNBC so I don't know who she is or why she's there but she drives me nuts. She wears skintight shiny vinyl clothes. Monday, when they were discussing the shoulder tape worn by one of the beach volleyball players she started talking about her tattoos. She curls her lip when she talks even when it's a human interest story. Someone needs to tell her to stop doing this. She stumbles through her teleprompter reading, but it's even worse when she goes off-script. You can tell within two words when she stops reading from the teleprompter because it's usually inappropriate or embarrassing. She's in New York and the two people actually in China ignore her half of the time. I'm not sure if they're having communication difficulties or if they just feel like I do and it's best to pretend she never said that and move on.

But I will still keep watching because I don't want to miss anything.
Go USA!



Sharon

Thank you card

I made this quick and simple thank you card for my friend Betty last week. She's filling in for me at the piano at church while I take a couple of weeks off this summer. I love playing piano and I love playing at church but sometimes, I just need a break. Playing at our church means Monday night rehearsal, Saturday morning rehearsal and warm-up Sunday morning followed by three services. When I told the worship pastor I wanted a few weeks off, I didn't know that Betty would end up playing either keys or piano almost every week this summer. She's a single woman who says she has the time and I know she loves to play but this goes above and beyond the call of duty. I owe her big-time.

It was my first time trying the ripped paper thing & I kind of like it but I'm not sure it's me.

Sharon