Update

Not sure how this works in Google Reader, but I just changed the last post to include Chapter 2 as well. Not sure if there will be confusion or not. Oh no -- it was a last second decision! Ahh!

Memoir installment #2

I haven't put in pictures to my memoir -- not sure that I will. Maybe in the back or something. So here is a picture that goes along with the story. And I'm sure my brother Paul will mention that my brothers did most of the digging -- and I mostly did the playing. :)

Okay, so here is the second installment of my memoir (a link to the pdf so you don't have to click on the pages individually -- that was annoying). This installment includes the first installment (retitled Preface), a new prologue, and the first and second chapter. I have like a title page thing for the chapters with very crude drawings (I don't mean gross) that I'm not sure works, but this is obviously all a rough draft. I liked the idea of having drawings that looked like I drew them as a kid or something.

I would have waited to put the second chapter on, but Chapter 1 really flows into Chapter 2, so I decided to add it. Chapter 2 is a little depressing, and I was unsure if I wanted to have it in there at all, but there it is. I hope it works.

Christian at 8 Months

His sweet face! Can't believe it's been 8 months (today)! He's getting SO big!!

(Really. He is SO big -- it's killing me to carry this kid!)

Here he is practicing his new skill...standing/cruising.

This next section is meant to be like a flip book. I was too lazy to make a slide show or anything else. So -- here is Christian getting into the laundry -- literally.

"Look at me, Ma -- I'm standing -- AGAIN!"

"Mmm, smells great! I love fresh laundry!"

"I think you know what I'm thinking, Ma. I can't help myself!"

"Wahooooo -- wait a minute. This isn't so comfy. Hey -- you with the camera. Get me out of here."

"Ahh heck. one more smile for the camera."

"Now seriously. Get me out of here."

Wow, Christian has been developing by leaps and bounds lately! Last week, as I was rinsing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher, Christian was crawling around the kitchen (on the search for anything life-threatening no doubt), when he took interest in the open dishwasher. He started grabbing at the door, and the next thing I knew he had pulled himself into a kneeling position. Surprised, I congratulated him. He had never done that before. I continued rinsing dishes, only to look over next and find him standing by the washer clutching a knife (from the washer) and wearing a very large grin.

This kid doesn't stop. He is not interested in sitting. He still doesn't even sit very well, actually (meaning, he still flops over sometimes). He just has no interest in remaining stationary. I'll sit him down (which is really hard to do in the first place because he always sticks his legs straight out and won't allow himself to be seated), and then about half second later he's gotten himself down to the ground to go exploring again (and, of course, stuffing dangerous objects into his mouth as fast as he can). Getting him to hold still long enough to change his diaper is a true feat! (And just forget about trying to change his diaper at church.)

It is clear that walking is his goal. Now that he can stand, he will race over to the couch, pull himself up with ease, and start "cruising". He is very happy and proud of himself when he is standing tall. He looks SO little to me still, though. It seems very unnatural for my little infant (in my mind) to be standing and trying to walk around. I guess he takes after Andrew -- from what I hear Andrew was walking (and very shortly thereafter -- running) at 9 months. I would not be surprised to see Christian walking by next month. I thought Kate was an early walker at 11 months. Man. (Hmm...just checked earlier blog posts and realized that Kate was cruising at 8 months, too. I guess he's not that far ahead of her!)

Christian is generally very happy. He gives big sweet smiles, and will often (when he's getting sleepy) lay his cheek against mine, and we'll just sit there "cuddling." Despite his love for exploring, he still loves to be held, and he will almost jump out of my arms in excitement when I pick him up (if he's been crying for that). He loves to yell (happily) and bang his arms on the ground while kicking his legs up and down. It's really funny.

He sleeps all night long now, which is so wonderful I can hardly stand it.

He has two bottom teeth with no sign of others.

He lets me feed him for a few minutes before wrestling the spoon away from me so he can play with it. It's really not a fair fight -- the kid is strong!

He loves his big sister, and he will even tolerate her cleaning between his toes (a compulsion of hers -- she has to clean out her toes after taking her socks off before she can do anything else. Now she has to clean Christian's toes, too. Not sure how long I will let this go on...) I will come into the living room sometimes, and Kate will be smacking his chest and stomach way harder than I think she should be. I start to scold her, but she'll respond, "He likes it!" And sure enough he'll start laughing hysterically. Who can argue with that. She is always watching out for him and making sure he doesn't put (too many) little things into his mouth.

Christian makes a great travel/errand companion. He just loves to get out of the house and rarely complains. We were in the light section at Lowe's the other day, and I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven.

I would be posting more pictures, but since my computer crashed a few weeks ago I don't have Photoshop set up on my computer (and am having problems getting it to install). But he's a beautiful, beefy boy -- and oh do we love him!!

A Child's Prayer

Kate's prayer tonight was the sweetest thing I've ever heard. It's taken a while for her to grasp what prayers are. She has always rushed through them, making it as short as possible, saying, "When I'm a teenager I'll say long prayers." For whatever reason, that has changed in the last couple weeks. Here's her prayer from tonight--

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the world.

Thank you for the earth.

Thank you for my body.

Thank you for my spirit.

Thank you for my heart.

Thank you for my family.

Thank you for my mom and dad.

Thank you for my little brother.

Thank you for my happy family days.

Thank you for Valentine's Day.

Thank you for my new big bed.

Thank you I can go to heaven.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

A couple nights ago we read the intro to the New Testament stories book, and it was all about the Plan of Salvation. She has been very upset at the thought of dying -- for quite a while now. As we read, she cried and cried, and said that Heavenly Father needed to make Earth prettier (so there would be no need, in her mind, to go to the Celestial Kingdom). We talked at length about death and the resurrection, etc., and I thought she was feeling better, so I continued reading. Then she'd start crying again, and would hug me, saying, "I want you to go to the Celestial Kingdom with me. I want to go together." SO SWEET.

I've always felt it important to talk to her about death while she is young so that she will be as prepared as she can be for when someone she knows dies. You never know when it might happen, and I want her to understand it as best she can before it does. I've wondered if maybe she was too young to talk to about it, but I just feel that she should know -- it's just a fact of life that you can't get around. I couldn't have dreamed up a sweeter little kid!

installment 1 -- a prologue to my memoir (read my post below first)

Okay, now before you start reading...let me say a few things. This is the prologue I've written for my memoir I'm working on (that I mentioned in my New Year's post). It is, I think, overly dramatic (and maybe taking myself too seriously). But sometimes that's how I roll, so I don't know what to do about that. I was feeling overly dramatic when I wrote it. Keep in mind this has not gone through much revising (and I don't really know if it will end up working as part of the whole -- since the whole has not been written yet). The second part of the prologue, I hope, does not sound controversial to any of you. I was not trying to be.

I'm also not sure if I will write the past in present tense or not -- I haven't so far.

I've only written about one chapter of the memoir -- and it's completely out of chronological order, so I'm not sure when or how I'll get to the beginning of the story. I just wrote what I felt like writing at the time. So, with Larson's suggestion, I am posting this on here, but I don't know if/when I'll be posting more. And if I do, it likely won't be in order of how it would actually appear in the book.

So...with that -- here's what I have so far. You'll have to click on the images of the pages -- you should be able to click on it again to enlarge it to a comfortable reading size. (Okay, this is kind of scary putting this out there...)

For comparison...

Kate at six months...

I was browsing through old photos of Kate the other day, and I was shocked when I came across this one. She looks like she should be on a starving kids infomercial! I guess she's never had much on her bones. Geez!

Christian at six months...

Christian on the other hand...I realize the two do not look very much alike in these pics, but I have seen some baby pics of Kate where she looks a lot like Christian. I'll find some -- mostly for grandparents that are interested. :) They do look quite different really, but there are times when you can definitely tell they are siblings.

I found an old video of Kate "crawling" -- it is just like watching Christian. It's the exact same crawling style.

6 months and counting...

Well, apparently I've been a little lazy on the picture taking front for little Christian this month. So here are a couple I took this morning. I was in the kitchen when I heard Kate yelling, "Mom! Christian's eating your desk!" I didn't get him gnawing away on the leg of the desk, but I got his cute "bitter beer" face at least (which he has on most of the time) -- in the second one.

Took Christian to the doctor today for his 6 month check up finally...he's 19.5 lbs (75th percentile) and 27.75 inches long (also 75th percentile), and of course 95th percentile for head. And he has eczema -- poor kid.

He's not sitting up yet, but he's close. He can sit for a second on his own before tipping over. He doesn't quite crawl yet, but he gets around. It's kind of hard to explain, so I took a video of it (also taken today...). It reminds me of an injured person clawing their way to the phone ... or something.



Christian seems to have been teething for the last two months (still nothing to show, though) -- drooling like crazy and trying to eat everything. It's really quite humorous watching him straining for everything at all times. If...only...I...could...reach...that...and...put...it...in....mouth... I'll be playing Go Fish with Kate, and he will try so hard to grab my hand and jab the cards in his mouth. The amount of saliva this kid produces generally dissolves the cards within seconds.

I have to watch him like a hawk. The other day he started choking, and I ran in to find him with a magic wand half way down his throat. Man. Kate is a big help to me and is good at monitoring him and keeping wires and cords out of his mouth. Kate was not like this at all. She didn't get in to anything really. We never had to baby proof anything. Such is definitely not the case with Christian.

Christian loves to explore new places and look at things around him. It's sometimes a trick just to get him to look at you because he is so interested in everything going on around him.

Just this morning, I put him in his car seat (without buckling him yet) and ran outside to try to help push Andrew's car out of the snow. When I came back in, Christian was on the floor! He was happily playing with something. I was shocked. I asked Kate why Christian was out of his car seat and what happened. Kate just said, "He wanted to get out. He rolled out." Kate would never attempt to move him, so I know he did it on his own somehow -- and without hurting himself. Gees.

Christian loves baby food and is not picky like Kate was when it came to veggies. He gags on green beans, but will eat everything else. He even seems to like veggies more than the fruit ones.

Christian is not sleeping through the night now. He was there for a while, but for some reason (I think the teething) will wake often in the night lately. It is rough on me, but I'm sure it will get better soon...

My favorite time with Christian is when we're alone at night before bed time. Oftentimes (not all the time) he will sit there contentedly in my arms and just sit and stare at me while he coos and smiles sweetly up at me. He'll reach up sometimes and even touch my face gently. It's just about the sweetest thing I could think up for him to do. After he does that for a while, then he just drifts off into a peaceful sleep. Oh man -- melts my heart!

He is too cute -- we are all crazy about him!!