Wave to the World

Annette is feeling outblogged by her brother, so here's a hello to let you know she is still here sitting pretty.

Sleeping on the Job

This morning Josiah was very happy to do some painting,

but soon his early morning began to catch up with him and his eyelids grew heavy, but he kept on painting

for about five minutes his eyes were shut completely, but he was still painting,

until he could fight it no more.

Being the great mom I am, I decided not to take this exhausted boy to his crib, but rather see how long my amusement would last. Still sleeping. . .

The Silliness Continues. . . .

Starfish Bay

This week Jason has been taking his Biology classes a few stops on the train from school to a little beach called Starfish Bay. Since we have been having beautiful California weather this week (oh, the things I used to take for granted!) I decided to bring the kids along. We were so excited to discover this "secret" beach because it is just a couple minutes from our new flat. The students loved finding starfish and crabs and I loved seeing Jason wear his "teacher" hat! The crabs made Josiah very nervous, but he loved the water.

Cozy Quarters

We are preparing to move in 2 weeks. This will be our 6th move in 8 years of marriage. Our current place is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 650 square foot flat. Our new home will be roughly the same size. In preparing for the move we've been measuring every sqaure inch and plotting like a jigsaw puzzle to maxamize our precious space. While there are moments when being up high (our news place is 35 stories up!) with two little ones leaves me longing for the spaciouness of solitary confinement, there are also distinct advantages to having a small place.

So, in the spirit of optimism, here are the pluses of cozy quarters
- simplicity: you can't and don't accumulate too much! I love that I can pack up my entire house to move in one evening. We say "no" to lots of things simply because there is no space. This good because we want our lives to be about relationships, not "things".
- sharing: because we don't have much space or storage we share with our friends a lot; baby bouncers, books, clothes, balls, bikes all get borrowed and passed around. As soon as we outgrow something we pass it on.
-easy to clean: it doesn't take long to clean the house (unfortunately it doesn't take long to get dirty either!)
- Togetherness: makes us literally a close family. I also enjoy knowing Josiah is not far away since he has an "explorer" personality

p.s.- If you think we are cramped, the Chinese family moving into our flat has 4 adults and 3 kids, yikes!

Josiah Jiggle

To entertain Josiah on the train I let him listen to music on my phone. He really got into the beat and the whole train was entertained by his stroller dance moves.




I thought this was pretty good, til my friend Anna showed me her daughter Naomi "working it" in the car seat So funny!

Traumatic

Well Annette's morning got off to a rough start. It began with Josiah's metal tractor rolling off his play table onto her forehead, leaving a red bump and lots of tears. After kisses, a good swaddle and snuggle she fell asleep. I laid Annette in her bassinet, closed the bedroom door and did some housework while Josiah played. When she woke up about an hour later I went to get her and found the door locked from the inside (any guesses as to who is now tall enough to press the button?)

A wave of panic flooded my body as her screams became more urgent. I called my friend Emily and asked her to run to the management office to get a locksmith. She left her toddler sleeping at home (what a good friend!) and got them to call someone right away. Meanwhile, I tried every random key in our basket, but couldn't open the door. For a while I thought Annette might fall back asleep, but then came the "I'm hungry" cry that I knew would not relent until she was fed. I tried talking to Annette through the door, but this only made her cry with a more frantic desperation. Josiah also was trying keys in the door and was certainly the calmest member of the household. They said the locksmith would come in 30 minutes, so I willed myself to listen to some worship music and be patient. After about 25 minutes 4 people came in our house and within minutes busted the door open. Annette and I were tearfully reunited.

Upon re- reading my story, I think "what was the big deal, you knew she was fine" On a cognitive level yes, but there is something about a newborns helpless cry that will drive a mother to do anything to be with her baby. Another one of God's amazing designs. Annette is getting lots of snuggles this afternoon. . . as much for me as for her.
Busting in

Natalie and Fonnie helping to save the day