it's that we loved each other well...
This blog's been pretty quiet - our life has not :) There's so much happening in the span of each day lately, the sponge just keeps filling w/o much wringing out. But, its ok - its a happy full & we find ourselves feeling more blessed w.each day that passes lately.
We have a much anticipated family vacation coming up this weekend & are looking forward to what we believe is a much deserved break...
At the beginning of 2010 our horizon looked much different than it does today. We started January setting out to do a big, cleaning house project (meaning every crevice & closet) - did that. We talked about joining the local pool - once all those house projects were done...summer would be weekends full of down time spent pool side - we joined the pool. We thought/talked about planning a Mama & Deddy trip for the fall - something to really "get away"...like passport getting away - the buck kinda stopped there.
We joined the pool, but we can pretty much count on one hand the number of times we've seen it. Instead, many weekends have given us time to regroup, time to bridge the space between baby & toddler and time to create a loving space for a lil' person we find ourselves loving and anticipating more with each day. We tabled the "getting away", b/c October will begin final days of awaiting the arrival of our lil' Ella. And all that cleaning, thank goodness is the most important thing I can say about that - adding another lil' person & moving John around would have proved a very daunting task had all that not been accomplished. The stacks of Goodwill donation slips accumulated this year are proof positive that our lives are cluttered beyond what we consciously realize. A true process of taking inventory and letting go of things - cathartic beyond words!
Oh yeah, and the day to day between those weekends...they're pretty busy too! Our routine is like clock-work & thankfully we all thrive in that. I don't know how we'd manage any other way. Seth & I are both busy at work - but thankful to have jobs. Thankful that we leave those jobs each day & are able to be present as Mama & Deddy, then husband & wife each night.
John is growing (literally) and changing beyond our belief! Seeing his long lil' legs stretch out amazes us each day. He continues to do well in his big boy room...counting that as a wonderful blessing. And his vocabulary - it amuses & amazes us :) We're constantly reminded that his lil' sponge is absorbing a lot too - we often find ourselves saying, "where did he learn that?!". We're truly in awe. Because I can't re-cap it all, I'll just mention a few highlights from the last few days..."Be right back" (as he walks purposefully away), "Let's see..." (as he opens a book or thinks about something), "I holds you" "I rock Deddy" (he is in the 1st person of everything we do for him, but this is too cute to correct right now), "Better?!" (as he helps Seth get dressed in the morning), "I get up?" (when we open his bedroom door in the morning or after nap - this is what he asks as he sits on his bed) - the list goes on & on. Another way to highlight his vocabulary explosion - on his sheet from daycare, often written across the top is either "John talked all day today" or "He talked non-stop today"...can't help but be proud :) In my completely unbiased opinion he's the most amazing 2 yr old, ever - haha
I will mention the concession to all his overwhelming "sunshine" is his overwhelming tenacity and hard-headedness (not a clue where he gets any of that from!) Another key phrase we hear way too much of these days is, "I not want to!" This is often in response to questions that haven't been asked or standard procedure kinda stuff (i.e. hair combing, sitting down to eat, putting on shoes). We find ourselves scratching our heads a little here - um, we don't recall making any of these necessary tasks optional. The new time-out spot's become the bottom step - definitely spending some quality time there pondering all these "I not want to's". He's learned to say I'm sorry followed by his obligatory side hug...but just yesterday as Seth rounded the corner to see if he was ready to apologize, John started chanting "sorry, sorry, sorry" before Seth got a word out. Another moment of just having turn away b/c he makes us laugh too much when we're trying to make a point - stinker! I said Seth had the patience of Job before John - I see John chipping away at it more each day :) This should not amuse me, right?!
I had my 27 week Dr. Appt. last week - it was the glucose screening one. It was painless, well minus the blood being drawn & the near throat freeze from guzzling the glucose juice too fast (if possible, it was over-chilled!). At any rate, measured right where I was supposed to - Ella's heartbeat was right there, pounding away. Dr. asked about movement - wanted to be sure I was feeling her EVERY DAY! I laughed a little when saying, "Yes" - she's kinda knocking it out of the park w.movement. The Dr. quickly assured me, "There's no such thing as a hyperactive baby" - had to cough a lil' bull sh&% under my breath, I beg to differ :) John wasn't 1/2 this active - a mold breaker I know she'll be! I'll certainly be expecting nothing less...
Got her lil' room pretty finished up - tickled (still) about that! We're minus a few minor details, but if she got here tomorrow we'd be ready. That's a lie, the room's ready - we probably need these remaining weeks to fully prepare mentally :)
One of the biggest praises as of late is for Salem Belle's surgery and subsequent results. They had to remove much more than anticipated from her spot & the vet was not optimistic given all that he found. We had a few days of waiting to hear the results of what he sent off to be tested, but thank God he called w.good news! Not only did they not find anything malignant, but he said if something came up later it would be something completely separate & not related to this. Being our 1st baby (forever the best-listening one!) and John's best fur friend (ours too!) - our heavy hearts prayed that the vet's misgivings would prove untrue...thankful for the answered prayers.
Well, working from home this morning - keeping tabs on diarrhea filled diapers, joy! I think we're on the tail end of the stomach bug that was going around daycare. Doodie diaper count's approx 1 1/4 so far. Seth & I talked this morning - funny how we have to keep him home when they're (daycare) the ones that give us all these shenanigan sicknesses. Yes, we know its logical to slow the spread by keeping the affected ones out, but stinky (pun intended) nonetheless. Can't wait to start this 2-fold when lil' Ella starts daycare...let the cycle begin again :)
Hope everyone's surviving this awful heat we've been having - the Fisher family's using lots of cool, bought air lately :) I will try not be such a stranger to this lonely blog - got the big ticket item off my plate at work, got a vacation coming & got 2 little persons growing right before my eyes...surely there are stories and moments that need to be shared. I will try & do a better job :)
Final note - the title of this entry...heard that line in an Indigo Girls song yesterday. Song is called "Power of Two" - I had to smile at that particular line. Even when we fall short (which is w.o fail each day) the greatest thing we can strive to do is love each other well. When all else seems to be falling away or washing over us - that will be the glue that ultimately holds it all together. Praying for, listening to, laughing and crying with - those are good earmarks of loving well...striving every day to strengthen & renew our loving habits. I liked that line - a good perspective and gentle reminder.
As I've said before - not moving mountains, but feeling the weight of great things nonetheless...
We have a much anticipated family vacation coming up this weekend & are looking forward to what we believe is a much deserved break...
At the beginning of 2010 our horizon looked much different than it does today. We started January setting out to do a big, cleaning house project (meaning every crevice & closet) - did that. We talked about joining the local pool - once all those house projects were done...summer would be weekends full of down time spent pool side - we joined the pool. We thought/talked about planning a Mama & Deddy trip for the fall - something to really "get away"...like passport getting away - the buck kinda stopped there.
We joined the pool, but we can pretty much count on one hand the number of times we've seen it. Instead, many weekends have given us time to regroup, time to bridge the space between baby & toddler and time to create a loving space for a lil' person we find ourselves loving and anticipating more with each day. We tabled the "getting away", b/c October will begin final days of awaiting the arrival of our lil' Ella. And all that cleaning, thank goodness is the most important thing I can say about that - adding another lil' person & moving John around would have proved a very daunting task had all that not been accomplished. The stacks of Goodwill donation slips accumulated this year are proof positive that our lives are cluttered beyond what we consciously realize. A true process of taking inventory and letting go of things - cathartic beyond words!
Oh yeah, and the day to day between those weekends...they're pretty busy too! Our routine is like clock-work & thankfully we all thrive in that. I don't know how we'd manage any other way. Seth & I are both busy at work - but thankful to have jobs. Thankful that we leave those jobs each day & are able to be present as Mama & Deddy, then husband & wife each night.
John is growing (literally) and changing beyond our belief! Seeing his long lil' legs stretch out amazes us each day. He continues to do well in his big boy room...counting that as a wonderful blessing. And his vocabulary - it amuses & amazes us :) We're constantly reminded that his lil' sponge is absorbing a lot too - we often find ourselves saying, "where did he learn that?!". We're truly in awe. Because I can't re-cap it all, I'll just mention a few highlights from the last few days..."Be right back" (as he walks purposefully away), "Let's see..." (as he opens a book or thinks about something), "I holds you" "I rock Deddy" (he is in the 1st person of everything we do for him, but this is too cute to correct right now), "Better?!" (as he helps Seth get dressed in the morning), "I get up?" (when we open his bedroom door in the morning or after nap - this is what he asks as he sits on his bed) - the list goes on & on. Another way to highlight his vocabulary explosion - on his sheet from daycare, often written across the top is either "John talked all day today" or "He talked non-stop today"...can't help but be proud :) In my completely unbiased opinion he's the most amazing 2 yr old, ever - haha
I will mention the concession to all his overwhelming "sunshine" is his overwhelming tenacity and hard-headedness (not a clue where he gets any of that from!) Another key phrase we hear way too much of these days is, "I not want to!" This is often in response to questions that haven't been asked or standard procedure kinda stuff (i.e. hair combing, sitting down to eat, putting on shoes). We find ourselves scratching our heads a little here - um, we don't recall making any of these necessary tasks optional. The new time-out spot's become the bottom step - definitely spending some quality time there pondering all these "I not want to's". He's learned to say I'm sorry followed by his obligatory side hug...but just yesterday as Seth rounded the corner to see if he was ready to apologize, John started chanting "sorry, sorry, sorry" before Seth got a word out. Another moment of just having turn away b/c he makes us laugh too much when we're trying to make a point - stinker! I said Seth had the patience of Job before John - I see John chipping away at it more each day :) This should not amuse me, right?!
I had my 27 week Dr. Appt. last week - it was the glucose screening one. It was painless, well minus the blood being drawn & the near throat freeze from guzzling the glucose juice too fast (if possible, it was over-chilled!). At any rate, measured right where I was supposed to - Ella's heartbeat was right there, pounding away. Dr. asked about movement - wanted to be sure I was feeling her EVERY DAY! I laughed a little when saying, "Yes" - she's kinda knocking it out of the park w.movement. The Dr. quickly assured me, "There's no such thing as a hyperactive baby" - had to cough a lil' bull sh&% under my breath, I beg to differ :) John wasn't 1/2 this active - a mold breaker I know she'll be! I'll certainly be expecting nothing less...
Got her lil' room pretty finished up - tickled (still) about that! We're minus a few minor details, but if she got here tomorrow we'd be ready. That's a lie, the room's ready - we probably need these remaining weeks to fully prepare mentally :)
One of the biggest praises as of late is for Salem Belle's surgery and subsequent results. They had to remove much more than anticipated from her spot & the vet was not optimistic given all that he found. We had a few days of waiting to hear the results of what he sent off to be tested, but thank God he called w.good news! Not only did they not find anything malignant, but he said if something came up later it would be something completely separate & not related to this. Being our 1st baby (forever the best-listening one!) and John's best fur friend (ours too!) - our heavy hearts prayed that the vet's misgivings would prove untrue...thankful for the answered prayers.
Well, working from home this morning - keeping tabs on diarrhea filled diapers, joy! I think we're on the tail end of the stomach bug that was going around daycare. Doodie diaper count's approx 1 1/4 so far. Seth & I talked this morning - funny how we have to keep him home when they're (daycare) the ones that give us all these shenanigan sicknesses. Yes, we know its logical to slow the spread by keeping the affected ones out, but stinky (pun intended) nonetheless. Can't wait to start this 2-fold when lil' Ella starts daycare...let the cycle begin again :)
Hope everyone's surviving this awful heat we've been having - the Fisher family's using lots of cool, bought air lately :) I will try not be such a stranger to this lonely blog - got the big ticket item off my plate at work, got a vacation coming & got 2 little persons growing right before my eyes...surely there are stories and moments that need to be shared. I will try & do a better job :)
Final note - the title of this entry...heard that line in an Indigo Girls song yesterday. Song is called "Power of Two" - I had to smile at that particular line. Even when we fall short (which is w.o fail each day) the greatest thing we can strive to do is love each other well. When all else seems to be falling away or washing over us - that will be the glue that ultimately holds it all together. Praying for, listening to, laughing and crying with - those are good earmarks of loving well...striving every day to strengthen & renew our loving habits. I liked that line - a good perspective and gentle reminder.
As I've said before - not moving mountains, but feeling the weight of great things nonetheless...
