Half Mom, Half Dad

We were looking at old slides last night at my wife's family reunion. We get together every Labor Day weekend, and this time, at Jen's request, Dad broke out the old slide projector and we spent an hour or so looking at old photos.

Almost every photo brought laughs along with a funny story or two. Sometimes it took a bit longer to remember a particular story, at least every detail of it. And often, someone would comment how one of the now parents look just like their offspring. Our little Kirstie looks a lot like her mommy used to!

But as I looked at the photos, I kept thinking, "It's not totally like Kirstie..." (And not just because I think she looks like me...) :-) There was just something very different, even though there was a lot the same.

That got me to thinking about how we are all a mix of half mom and half dad. (And all of the people that went into that before them!) There's one part of dad and one part of mom, so I suppose that's true. Even still, when you look at some people, you can't help but say, "Wow! You look like your mom!" (Or, Dad, as the case may be.)

So where does the other half go? :-)

I have also noticed lately a pretty cool (and sometimes hard) thing about kids. Not only do they get physical traits passed down through the generations, they also get personality traits. Inside stuff that is harder to see. I think that's so fascinating. I like to think that I just am who I am. And, certainly that's true. The combination of "traits" I have from my parents and all my ancestors makes me unique, just like everyone is unique. But partly, I am also just like my mom, dad, grandmas, grandpas, etc.

How crazy is that? :-)

So somewhere in that little Kirstie who looks so much like her mommy is half of her daddy. I'm sure some of it can be seen in physical traits, but it will be interesting to watch her and see myself in her mirror. Hopefully she got mostly my good traits. :-)

Now I Know What To Do

This morning, while I was checking email on the laptop and watching the kids play in my in-laws' driveway, Kirstie stopped by to ask me a question.

"Dad, how do I stop if I'm going down a fast hill on my bike?"

Puzzled by the question I asked, "Well, what do you mean? Why do you want to know?"

"I just want to know what to do if I'm going down a fast hill and I can't stop," came the matter-of-fact reply.

"Well," I began, "I guess if you try your brakes and they don't work, then you would just try and get to the edge of the road and sort of lean over so you could fall off the bike on the side of the road. Or, if you could... maybe just jump off the bike."

She was listening intently to all I was saying, and then when I stopped she just got back on her bike and began to ride away. About ten feet away she said a very cheerful and satisfied, "Thanks!"

I laughed and said, "For what?"

"Well," she said, "Now I know what to do when I'm going down a fast hill on my bike!"

My Brain Already Works

Just now I was downstairs with the kiddos saying good morning and getting my 6-gallon water container refilled for a busy week to come. In my hand was my yerba mate, which, when first filled is quite strong. I know my son, Ian, likes it, so I gave him a sip to show him just how strong it really was.

"It gets your brain working," I said with a smile.

I had read that a while back when our Argentine friend Laura introduced me to it. Apparently it stimulates your brain, and is overall quite good for you. So, since it seemed a bit strong for a nine-year-old, I thought that could make him appreciate it a bit more.

I looked around at the other children standing there, and my four-year-old daughter was looking at me, so I offered her the mate, extending it to her with a gesture.

Apparently she was listening intently to what I said to Ian. She quickly, and matter-of-factly replied, "My brain already works."

I love my kids :-)

Big Family Shortcuts

I have noticed that with so many children around here, I am needing shortcuts when referring to them every now and again.

We already had "the boys" and "the girls" before for easy pairings. We also call Kirsten & Alex, "The Twins" because they really look a lot alike, and are similar in other ways, and are the two in the middle. Well, they were.

Now are getting even more creative.

First there's Mom & Emma, who spend a lot of time together these days. We call them either "Momemma" or "Emmamom". Both are equally fun to say.

Then we have, "The Oldies". These are the three oldest kids, who are not our babies.

Then I came up with a clever way of referring to two kids at a time using former (or current) Buffalo Bills players' numbers. For instance, Ian and Julia are "Frank Reich". This is because Ian is the first born (#1) and Julia is fourth (#4), so together they are 14, which is Frank Reich's number.

The combinations are pretty fun.

Ian and Alex? Jim Kelly. Kirsten & Alex (if we're bored with "The Twins") are Beast Mode (nickname for Marshawn Lynch, #23). Ian and Emma? Todd Collins. (I know! Good one!) :-) Alex & Julia? Terrence McGee.

Pretty good system, I think. :-)

So, life as a big family continues to be very interesting, and tons of fun. More stories to come, I'm certain of it!

Shorties

Since computer (and especially blogging) time is limited... please allow me to share some fun stories/thoughts using another list-style post...

• Julia just turned two, but she is the smartest cookie in the bunch sometimes. This week she has been really helpful with the laundry. I don't always know whose clothes are whose, but she does! Seriously funny. And helpful! Also, she is a great talker (though sometimes hard to understand). Maybe one of the cutest things she says is when she's really excited about something, she says, "Yay-uh". (Pronounced like a souther gospel preacher, which I'm pretty sure she's never heard...) :-) Hilarious!
  
  
• The Sabres won tonight. They keep stringing me along. They sit 5 points out of the final playoff spot with only 12 possible points remaining. Thanks to some good scheduling, the team we are chasing (Boston) is our opponent for two of those games, so we can possibly make up 4 points in those two games. There's still a very outside chance they can make the playoffs, but I'm really not optimistic about any chance of advancing if they do. We shall see...
  
  
• Michigan State has worked their way into the sweet sixteen in the NCAA tournament. (Which is now only the terrific twelve or something after last night's games...) They really have a good team this year. Solid rebounding (as always) from our big guys, Namick & Suton, and a stellar freshman Kalin Lucas, as well as solid scoring threats in Morgan, Allen, & Gray. Ohh yeah... we also have that guy Drew Neitzel... he's pretty good. (If you don't know him, he's a senior, and he was fanastic as a sophomore at least, and has only kept getting better.) :-) They play Friday (and hopefully Sunday). Friday's game is against the #1 seed in the South region, Memphis. 9:57pm tip off on CBS. Well worth watching!
  
  
• Kirstie just oozes nice. It's incredible. If there is ever any "not-niceness" between anyone in the family, Kirstie steps in to the edification of the one not-niced. Every time. She's so great! Such a gentle heart. She's my little lover. She often tells me, "I just love you, Dad!" And then gives me a big hug, and often a big kiss. Well, as you can guess... I just love her, too. :-)
  
  
• Sometimes I really can't believe how old Ian is. He is nine, and definitely becoming his own person. We can see the things he really likes to do. He even talks about it. He's starting to figure it out too. He's very creative. He too is a gentle spirit. (Sometimes too gentle. :-( Easily crushed.) He's an artist. He's such a people person. Loves people. Could be his weakness actually (people pleasing) but it will also be a great strength. I'm honestly a little nervous about this transitional stage. Will I(we) handle it well? Will we be able to encourage Ian as he really begins becoming a unique individual? It's a very interesting stage for all of us. I think we are merely on the cusp, but we're definitely there. All we can do is just love him, train him best we know how, and live out what we say. And overall, make sure he knows that he is completely safe with us any time and always. That may be harder than it sounds - or I may just think too much. :-)
  
  
• Alex is TOO picky! Argh. It's been quite a struggle with people bringing us food (a bunch of new stuff he hasn't really seen before) and getting him to eat. Not to mention the great Easter candy he knows we have... that's quite a distraction as well. :-) It was funny today when we were dealing with all that again for the 17,000th time that I actually thought of "the kids in India" when I was so mad at his pickiness. "You know, the kids in India don't have any food! They just eat rice, if they can find any!!!" (Not sure on the accuracy of that statement... but thought it was funny that I actually thought it, and sorta used it. I am truly a dad, and truly old.) :-)
  
  
• Emma Caroline couldn't be cuter. :-) Funny story from today... we got a new monitor so Jen can be down here and Emma can sleep upstairs. All of a sudden we heard a screaming baby in the monitor! Yikes! What happened?? That was not normal. (Although, she has had a tendency to "freak out" at times...) So, Jen went to help her - but she was sound asleep. Completely still. Weird. When Jen came back down, Emma started freaking out again! Worse than before! Very, very strange... Jen went back up... Emma was completely still!!!! Finally, we sent Ian up to check while we stayed down to listen... you guessed it.. we were picking up someone else's baby!!!! Ha! Very weird. Kinda funny... very weird.

Much more to tell, but no time, and no energy with which to tell it. Must sleep.

Progress Report

Well, it's been a little over a week now that we have been home from the hospital with our newest family member, and it's even been a couple days since any of us has been sick. (Not sure which one of those bits of news is more welcome at this point...) ;-)

Today was a fun day, actually. There were no scheduled visits, which although greatly appreciated and enjoyed, do not really allow for any sort of a schedule to the day. Not so this day. We got a lot of cleaning done (even finally vacuumed) and finished 4 or 5 loads of laundry (and a few loads of dishes). We read library books in the morning before taking a walk up to the library (all seven of us!) and getting some more books! (We read some of those upon our return home!) We even had time to run some errands (the four older kids and me) which included a stop at our favorite ice cream place - CHILL & GRILL - for an end of the day treat!

It was a really fun day. :-)

We also took a break in the middle of the day (after lots of serious house cleaning) to play a game, just Dad and the three oldest kids. That was fun. I am thoroughly enjoying spending so much time with my kids. I love this part of having a new baby :-)

There have been a few fun kid moments over the past couple days...

Last night, after a looong day of fun on Easter Sunday (which included your normal easter fun as well as a visit from our friends the Chis and two trips to Chill & Grill!) Alex snuck upstairs to get ready for bed and as I was coming up to put the boys in bed, Alex said, "Wait, Dad! I'm almost done!" He was very happy about it, so I let him finish what he was scheming. When I got up there, I saw Alex putting the finishing touches on cleaning the bathroom for Mom & Dad. :-) He said he knew we were tired, and he wanted to do that for us. He cleaned the sink, and even used "just a washcloth and some water" to clean our toilet. :-) :-) :-) Very cute... a little gross... but very cute.

Tonight as I was bathing the girls (which I remembered that I needed to do after I had already gotten the girls in the jammies for the night...) Kirstie was almost done and she said as I was washing her off, "Dad, when you need me to wash you off I'll just do it for you, OK?" :-) Again... very cute.

There have been many cute moments like that this last week or so, and I am so thankful that though it's been super hard work (lack of sleep, lots of extra sickness, lots of extra visits, and just being behind already from the 3 days at the hospital) it's so totally worth it, and there are many fun/amazing moments with my kids that I am definitely blessed to have.

That said... there's not much time to do the stuff I'm wanting to do (or needing to do!) as is evidenced by a blog post at 1:00am :-)

Tomorrow we have a visit from some friends in the morning, and then in the afternoon we'll hopefully be getting our new van seat, which will allow us all to (legally) go somewhere as a family of seven! (Right now, our van only seats six.) :-) Oh, and then another friend will be bringing us dinner. Probably a good day for that!

At least we're not still sick! :-)

Oh, and Jen and Emma are doing great. Jen was feeling pretty bad at the end of last week (which is why I am still not back in my office officially) but feeling lots better now. Things are definitely progressing.

I may have to post some more Emma photos here pretty soon... Still working on the video, too. :-)

Grateful For Washing Machines

It was not a good night in the Campbell house. Perhaps it even goes back most of a week now.

I think I told the story here of coming home with Emma. The night before we came home, our six year old Alex threw up eight times! He was better (mostly) by the time we got home, but we were certainly leery. Ian was next. That night he threw up just once, but it was gross... and it was on the bed I had just put new sheets on for him! :-)

Well, thankfully, we have a washing machine.

This week has seen its share of laundry loads. Normal loads, sick loads, many loads. We do have seven people in this house now. We also did a load or two of clothes for Jen and the new baby to wear, brought out from their cold, dark storage containers.

Well, last night was a doozy.

First, I fell asleep on the couch watching the hockey highlights from the night (seriously... they were almost over...) and was awoken by an angry Jen's voice, "Greg... Greg!... GREG!!" That's not pleasant. Nor is the reason she was calling me. First, she was hurting for some unknown reason, and Emma was not wanting to sleep, which made it worse. But the reason I was summoned? Julia had thrown up. Time for Dad to clean up!

I cleaned her up and was going to deal with the rest in the morning. Went straight to bed and Jen was in and out with Emma, and I noticed that my stomach really did not feel very good. I don't usually throw up, so I wasn't worried about that, but it was sort of difficult to go to sleep.

Within half an hour, Julia was back. She had thrown up again. This all started at 12:30am or so, and continued until I think 3:33am. Probably four or five times I went in, cleaned up the baby, and got new sheets, towels, blankets, sleeping bags... whatever I could find! Meanwhile, at about 2:30, I felt awful and spent some time in the bathroom myself. (Strangely, I did not throw up, but I thought I was going to... and when I "tried"... nothing happened but I felt amazingly better!)

Well after all of this, we have discovered that our tummy troubles are not gone... Julia, Kirsten, and Dad all have... ya know. The other side. Yeah. Not pretty.

I also came to find out that Jen slept downstairs much of the night, trying to get comfortable... didn't really sleep much at all. Still very sore, but also had the chills. :-( What's going on??!?!

Jen just left for the doctor - for the regular one week check up for her and baby. Should be interesting... :-)

I just finished cleaning up all the throw up covered clothing (I am very thankful for washing machines...) and doing the dishes from the night before so we could do the dishes from breakfast after I gave Julia a bath because she had gotten throw up in her hair after I folded the laundry I already had done yesterday to make room for the laundry I needed to do today and now the kids are done with breakfast and waiting for the next event of the day...

Did I mention that I am grateful for washing machines?

(Trying to keep a positive outlook here...) ;-)

Kirstie's Day

What a great fourth birthday for our little Kirstie! I figured it would be fun (at least for us!) to write out all the details of the big day, so here we go!

Kirstie was the last of the kids to wake up yesterday, so I gathered the other three and my guitar and we snuck into her room and quietly sang Happy Birthday to wake her up. :-) After a little disorientation... she stumbled out her door to see her new birthday poster (see below) and open a present (a new pink booster seat for a BIG GIRL in the van!) and then went downstairs for breakfast.

Mom did some fun-for-Kirstie things till lunch time, and then at lunch Dad came down from the office and Kirstie went on a birthday present scavenger hunt! Mom gave her an initial clue, and then each present she found had a clue for where to find the next one! Great idea by Jen, lots of fun for Kirsten (and the rest of us, too!) After that I made an awesome pink cake - later to be frosted with pink icing - for my pink-lovin' girl!

I worked a bit more in the office, until the evening fun, which began around 7pm when we headed out for dinner.

First up was a birthday meal at Red Robin. Kirstie got a pink balloon (which ended up in the ceiling rafters...) and ordered a full kids meal - since she was a big girl - and of course had the free sundae which is brought out by singing red robin employees. Ian sang along and said, "I know all the words by heart!" :-) Fun times! We love birthdays at Red Robin!

After that we headed around the corner to Chuck E. Cheese! We love birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese! Thanks to some coupons, we got 120 tokens for $10! That's a great deal, and a LOT of games! We fanned out and had a blast. Kirstie got to play games with all her family members, and just had a great time. One of her favorite things to do!

We stayed until close (they were very gracious) and then headed home, but with a stop at Uncle Scott & Aunt Leah's first to eat her pink cake! It was a bit late for all, but they were great. Leah had the plates and ice cream (and birthday candles!) ready, and we got right to singing happy birthday, blowing out candles and eating cake & ice cream! The whole visit was only 45 minutes but nice that we could share another birthday with them before they move to Washington DC. We'll miss them.

At the end of all that, Kirstie was BEAT! Exhausted. Wasted. But... in still able to bring up a few fun things from the day. When we got home she was crying about something (again, just exhausted) but managed to stop, and give Dad a big smile as I was saying good night. For her fourth birthday she felt like the little princess that she is. :-)

Kirstie is four... next is Julia in just under two weeks... unless....

Baby is due pretty soon, too!

Lots of BIRTHdays! :-)

Happy 4th Birthday, Kirsten!

Today is our little girl's 4th birthday. Kirstie Rae is FOUR today! The other kids and I sang her happy birthday this morning to wake her up, and then she opened a few presents (and got her birthday poster...) before heading down for breakfast. Mom has a fun scavenger hunt planned for her other presents, and then tonight we'll celebrate at Red Robin and Chuck E. Cheese (two of her favorite things!) :-)

So happy birthday little girl! Love you! :-)

Sickness Invades The Campbell Home

Jen (the pregnant one) has been sick (on top of the discomfort of pregnancy) over the past couple weeks with a few various ailments, but it didn't stay with her. Kirstie has been complaining of ear/head/neck pain off and on for almost a week now. This morning, Kirstie was still very lethargic, and her oldest brother Ian joined her in her illness-induced lethargy.

The sickness canceled our plans for today. Which were quite plentiful.

Well, the two other kids and myself were not feeling sick at all - in fact quite the opposite for the "evens" (kids #2 and #4...). They were quite loud, boisterous, and generally making life more miserable for their sick siblings.

I decided to take the healthies out to Wendy's where a group of friends generally gather every Sunday afternoon. Was even hoping to catch our nephew there who turned 20 today! (Yes... I am old...) :-) No luck there, but there were about 6 or 7 families represented, so it was definitely a nice visit for Dad who is a "people person." :-)

Untill...

Half way through our time there, Alex started showing signs of lethargy as well, and even ended up laying his head down on the table at one point. :-( He removed himself from the group (sat at a nearby table, not very like Alex with his friends) and just seemed to be getting exactly what everyone else had.

Scary thing? So did I.

As we were leaving, all of a sudden, my neck started aching, and I just felt very weird... maybe light-headed, but not that bad. Just tingly all over. Made it through that, enjoyed lunch, but felt a little strange all the way home. When we got home we put the new sickie in bed, and that's when it hit me.

COLD!!! I could not have been colder! I got under 6 or 7 blankets, all the way under, and turned the heat up! If you know me, you KNOW that something is wrong! :-) I really didn't feel lethargic, but still had an achy body all over, and had the chills som'n fierce!

So, I had some tea, put on my warmest sweatshirt, and took the rest of the day a bit easier.

Dinner was funny. I just reheated some leftovers for all the sickies (which is all but Julia!) and no one really wanted much of anything. :-) I still ate a decent amount, but definitely didn't taste right.

Right now, at a VERY early hour for me, I'm gonna down some NyQuil® and hit the sack! Might not wake up till 10 tomorrow! :-)

Here's hopin'!

"I Need Helllp"

This morning as I was sitting here doing a few things on Facebook, I heard a little voice from the other room say, "Moooooommmm...." So, since Mom was not quite awake, I said, "Yes??" The voice responded, "I need helllllp."

I didn't really want to get up right then, and Alex was standing in our doorway, so I said, "Can Alex help you?"

The voice calmly and matter-of-factly responded, "Well, if he can get the poo poo off."

Which for some reason just cracked me up. (Enough that I had to type this story before I went to help her!) :-)

Can't Sleep

Not sure what it was about last night, but it was not our night to sleep :-)

First, we got our Mac Mini back from the Apple store (replacing a defective hard drive) and hooked it up right away, even used it. But then, not-so-smart, plays-with-too-many-settings Dad tinkered with the display resolution one too many times and the TV just started flickering. A LOT. Could barely see anything... couldn't find the cursor well enough to get it back to the right resolution. I tried everything, but to no avail.

So, since it was essentially a brand new drive with brand new settings - I reinstalled the OS. :-) (That takes a long time...)

As I was installing it, I watched a TV show I had downloaded from iTunes, and then put in Star Trek Insurrection which I had been wanting to watch for a long time.

The update was going along just fine, even downloaded all of the software updates from the internet once the original OS was on the disk. And all the while, Jen must have woken up a good three or four times. I had to go upstairs one time to find out why Alex was kicking the bar that keeps him from falling out of bed. Jen told me then that both boys had been talking and/or moaning in their sleep. Pretty funny.

I finally went to bed at 4am. (Later than usual...) and Jen was up again. Not long after that, the girls were needing help. I'm not sure if Julia did, but Kirstie wasn't feeling that great, so she came in a few times. Jen got her a drink around 7:15? and then I did around 7:30. At that point, Julia was awake as well.

I finally just got up and took a shower at 8:30, and Alex wandered in the bathroom somewhere around 8:50 or so. Everyone is sorta/kinda awake right now (which is early for everyone else) and I can't wait to see what kind of day we have... :-)

So... perhaps naps are in order, and an early bed time!

OH! Funniest part? Around 8am I did go back to sleep, only to dream that all six of us were in a tiny two room place ... NOT SLEEPING! It was 6am or so in my dream, and everyone was awake!! I was thinking - we all need to be sleeping!!! And Jen (in the dream) was just fine with everyone being awake.

I was awoken by Kirstie needing more help (around 8:30) and just had to chuckle. Dream was imitating reality, or vice versa.

I think we just need some sleep. :-)

It Has a Dragon, Too!

Last night Kirstie came over to Jen and me with a couple toys in her hands. They were little plastic vehicles. A puller, and a trailer. She excitedly announced to us, "And it has a draggin', too!"

It took us a moment... but we got it. Very cute use of the English language. :-)

Birthday Month

Welcome to February - a very busy birthday month for our family and friends. Our daughter Kirstie will be celebrating her fourth birthday at the end of the month, but before that four of her seven Walker cousins will be celebrating their birthdays also! And Kirstie's youngest cousin on the Campbell side of the family is also a February birthday boy.

And, who knows... with a baby due mid March, she could have a sibling join her in the Birthday Month!

Besides close relatives, many friends also celebrate their birthdays this month with probably the craziest day being our oldest niece's birthday. On February 20th (our niece's birthday) three of our friends will also be celebrating their birthdays! Four on one day! (And two of them were born the same year also!)

So, it may be the shortest month of the year, but in a of way it's one of our busiest! :-)

(And don't forget, this year we get a bonus day!)

Happy February! :-)

My Favorite

Last night we were leaving our friends’ house pretty late after another fun evening together, and as we were saying good bye I noticed our son Alex running in circles in their front yard. He’s usually one of the first out of the house when we’re leaving (and one of the first ones in as well) so I guess that’s how he was passing the time. Everyone else had made their way to the van and to where they needed to be, but Alex just needed to run around.

And somehow, in that moment, it just reminded me of how much I love him. In fact, my actual thoughts were, “He’s my favorite!”

At first I reacted to that thinking, “Of course, so are the rest...” That’s when I realized... they are. Alex is my favorite, and so are Ian, Kirsten, and Julia. Even the next baby that we haven’t met yet. I guaranteed he or she will be my favorite, too. :-)

There’s a cool book I have mentioned here a time or two before called, The Shack. In this book, a guy has an in-person encounter with God and many times when God refers to any person this guy brings up, God says, “Oh, he’s my favorite.” (Or, one of my favorites, or something.)

Last night, I really understood that. It’s completely true of my and my kids. They really are my favorites. My favorite people. I love them more than they can know, or than I can probably express. But I’ll keep trying anyway. :-)

[As a footnote to this whole story, I was re-telling the events to Jen as we were pulling in our driveway. When I said the part about thinking Alex is my favorite, it wasn't long before Jen noticed him running circles around our yard, too. Guess he likes being "the favorite"...] :-)

Caught In A Snow Storm!

Last night I took our four kids up to the library to return some books, and to pick up a few new ones. The library is only half-way around the block, so we bundled up for a nice winter walk. It was even lightly snowing, so it was more fun than usual!

We even sang a song on the way there:

"Going for a walk in the snow to the library,
Going for a walk in the snow
Going for a walk in the snow to the library,
Going for a walk in the snow!"

It was perfect, and the kids did pretty well in the library. We got the books we wanted, and some stamps from the nice librarian. We bundled back up and headed out the door.

What we discovered was astonishing.

Swirling, blowing, blinding SNOW! Where did this come from?!? I just laughed! It was like a joke! What happened to our light flurries??? Well, we had no other way home, so I made sure faces were as covered as they could be and we set out into the storm.

And this was a storm! The wind was a constant 10-15 mph I'd guess, with stronger gusts. And the snow was collecting on the ground - and on us! - at an alarming rate. The worst part was, a third of our trip was heading west, directly into the wind! At one point during that stretch I turned around and pulled Julia in the stroller backwards (which helped a lot I think) and saw poor little Kirstie just closing her eyes and leaning into the wind as she pressed ahead into the blizzard!

It was crazy!!

Once we were able to turn south, and find a bit of shelter behind a giant brick church building, it got a little better. We laughed all the way home through the still rapidly falling snow.

Red cheeks, faces, and other exposed skin greeted Mom when we got home. Mom actually met us in the driveway, as she had seen the fierce winter storm and was coming to get us. But we managed to brave the elements and make it back home safely.

I told the kids as we were fighting the storm that we'd have hot cocoa and hot baths when we got home! And we'd also read a couple of the library books we just worked so hard to get.

And we did. :-)

Lesson Learned?

I was observing my three-year-old daughter and her one-year-old sister today as they tried to play together. They were just a few feet in front of me, and truthfully, it was not going well.

Julia, the younger, was taking things from Kirstie, the older, and this was not a welcome action. Kirstie was just whining about it, and then taking matters into her own hand, retrieving what had been taken. Of course, this only exacerbated the situation, so I decided to step in.

"Kirstie," I said in my most parental, instructional tone of voice, "That is just not going to work. You can't whine, and you can't just take the blocks back from her. How would you like it if she did that to you? This is a good chance for you to practice 'Treat others the way you want to be treated.' Why don't you ask her for what you want, instead of just take it?"

She followed my instructions and her younger sister gladly gave up her blocks (which were stolen in the first place...) and everyone was smiling. For about two seconds. That's when older sister decided to just take some more of what younger sister had. This resulted in very loud, shrill screaming.

Again... not going to fly with Dad.

Since this didn't seem to be getting through, so I said to the perpetrator Julia, "Julia, why don't you show Kirstie what it feels like. Take that yellow block on the top of her tower." Julia was happy to oblige. She reached over and grabbed three blocks from the top of Kirsten's tower. (She was probably pretty amazed I was letting her do this!)

Once the blocks were safely in Julia's possession, I asked Kirstie, "Now how do you feel?"

To my surprise, the first response came from Julia who said, "Good!"

Haha! That was too funny. Kind of ruined the moment, and taught the wrong lesson, but... at least we know that when you're allowed to do whatever you want... it feels good. :-)

Post-Thanksgiving Thoughts

We had a marvelous time with family in Ohio over the past several days. Besides my parents and my sister and her family of six, we also got to spend some time with my grandparents, two aunts, one uncle, three cousins (and one first cousin once removed). That was all topped with the news this morning that another cousin had delivered healthy TWINS the night before. (Funny part was, twin #1 was born at 11:52pm Nov 24th, while twin #2 entered breathable air at 12:03 Nov 25th! These twins have different birthdays!! Ha!!)

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and a great time with family.

Tonight, reflecting on all of it (and troubled a bit by our current financial standings) I was truly thankful. Not some cheesy kind of Hallmarky thankful induced by an annual over-commercialized holiday. I mean really thankful. It was kind of a neat feeling. I was looking around me at all the stuff that we do have and enjoy. Much of which has been given to us by our generous family. And I was thinking about my four kids and my wife, along with the other tot on the way. All of these that God has given me.

Money may be an ever-present pressure, cause of stress, and the lack thereof a source of fear, but really... in the important things, I'm set. Life could not be better.

A few stories for tonight.

First, at one point on our trip a random file came up in our iPod song shuffling, and it was just precious. It was a little audio clip I had recorded of Ian and Alex for our now stagnant basicmm radio show. Man, I forgot how cute the three-year-old Alex was! The kids all wanted to hear that one several times.

But, speaking of cute three-year-olds, our current three-year-old, Kirstie, was dishing out her own cuteness throughout the weekend. She had plenty of classic lines all weekend, some of which I won't repeat here, but one particularly cute moment was when I offered to lay down with her when she was supposed to be taking a nap. Unfortunately, at the moment, I forget what it was! :-) (I'll add it tomorrow if I can remember it!)

Other cuteness came from little Julia this weekend. She doesn't say much, but over the holiday at Grammy's house - which is well-stocked with chocolate - she learned to use the word "Choc-latt" well, and OFTEN. AND, the best part was the true, deep sadness that followed any time she uttered the new word, without the appropriate results! :-) If we ever said no to choc-latt, the tears flowed freely!

Pretty cute, and apparently she has a sweet tooth like her dad!!

There's a bunch more obviously, but as my sleeping time is quickly dwindling, I think I will head to my bed to get what I still can. (Yes, I really do sleep!)

Hope you are aware of and enjoying the blessings in your life, as God has reminded me of mine tonight.

My Music

More than a dozen years ago now I started writing songs. Sorta out of the blue. (Yes, Mom, I do remember the songs I was writing when I was eight years old, but really... the first real songs I started writing were a bit later in life, and seemed to be "out of the blue".)

At first these "OOTB" songs were a neat time for me to reflect on God and for me to express my heart to him. But slowly I began to share them with other people. A song here and there "at church", and then for my college floor-mates (I still remember Brian loving the song What You Say, and predicting it would be "a hit".) :-)

Eventually, we formed a band and made a cd. And for a time, that was that.

We went separate ways after college, and I continued to write songs, but used them in public a bit less. Even less when Jen & I were married as she had a strong aversion to them. No worries, it was fun while it lasted.... let's move on.

But God wanted something different. I could not put them down. I was compelled to use them. For other people. And use them we did. Listening to God in that moment (and watching him lead Jen toward the same thing) led to some six or seven years of full-time music traveling across the entire United States, and recording some five, six or seven albums.

Then in 2005, again at God's leading, it just stopped. Check out the "past events" at the calendar page on our website. Incredibly sparse over the last two years! (Compare it to 2002-2004!) So it would seem that at least for the time being, God does not have a use for my music.

Or does he?

Two nights ago, as I was saying good night to the girls, I just sat down next to Kirstie's bed and stayed there. She asked me what I was doing and I said, "I just wanted to stay here a while. I don't have anywhere to go right now, so I wanted to stay with you." She smiled a big "I love you" smile, and after a little pause she asked, "Dad, can you sing us a song on your guitar?"

"Not tonight, Kirstie. I don't have a song tonight."

"Can you sing the 'Lay your head on your pillow' song?" she asked, again with a big "I love you" smile. Now, it took me a second to remember what she was talking about, but it really was a song. A song I had sung once for the girls... about TWO MONTHS AGO. :-) I just brought my guitar in the room and made up a song, as I am wont to do for the girls, and the boys.

And she remembered.

At that moment I realized that God is still using my music. But instead of audiences across the country, and indeed the world, the audience is my four beautiful kids.

My little girl is listening, and loves her Daddy's songs.

Could it be any better?

They Killed God

Kirstie joined us for the morning Bible read today. She's three, and says some really cute things. Perhaps the following is both cute, and insightful? :-)

After reading the story of the first part of the night Jesus was arrested and taken before the Jewish leaders, then Pilate, and then Herod, we were talking about how crazy it was that they just blatantly lied about such well-known things. Jesus was a very public figure, but his accusers were at best twisting the truth, or just flat out lying about what he said and did. And it eventually got him killed.

And I guess Kirstie knows that, because without reading that today, she said, "They killed God."

I smiled at her simplicity and replied, "Yep. Well, he let them kill him." I continued, "Because somehow, when they did, he was able to beat the things that kills us, that destroy us." (I meant sin and death, but didn't figure a three year old would grasp such a thing.)

She responded without hesitation, "Yeah, then they don't destroy us!" She even said it with a finality and even joy at the resolution of it. Then they don't destroy us. What some people take 1000 pages to say in some theological treatise, my three year old understood, and summed up in two simple phrases.

They killed God. Then they don't destroy us.

Perfect. :-)

Quick Kirstie Story

This morning, 3-year-old Kirsten joined Dad and the boys for our morning Bible reading. We are near the end of the book of Luke, and Jesus is getting people riled up - almost the time that they killed him. Which also happened to be Passover, when they kill lambs.

I read the words, "The day had come for the Festival of Thin Bread, and it was time to kill the Passover lambs." Immediately, Kirstie responded, "Oh no!" A seriously concerned look came over her face. Why were they going to kill lambs???

I smiled and tried to explain old testament sacrifices, and even how Jesus was the Lamb of God... and the cool significance there. But I think it might have all been lost on the disturbing thoughts of those bad guys actually killing the Passover lambs!!!

:-)

Not A Creature Was Stirring...

There is still a whole 24 hours of quiet to come. I really can't believe it. The onslaught of this silence was so quick, so unexpected. It's eerie... unwanted. Disturbing. And yet... glorious. ;-)

The kids are at Grandma & Grandpa's! They have been since Tuesday evening. The will be until tomorrow, probably around lunch time!!! Holy cow! Do you know how crazy that is??? My mother-in-law is a fantastic lover of children - and subsequently, of us!

In the interrim, we have gone out to dinner twice on a couple cash gifts given to us by each of our fathers. Nothing too fancy, but just a nice bonus to this strange yet wonderful quietness. We're going out one more time tonight, at our friends' request and treat. (That one has been planned for a while now.)

It has been wonderful for Jen, for sure, and I've enjoyed it as well. Some for me, but mostly I have enjoyed having a happier, less burdened wife. That's been nice. :-)

So, I miss my kids a lot. Can't wait to see them tomorrow. But, thankful that we have parents who are so willing to take them - not just so we get a break, but because they love having them around, and to themselves. I don't think a lot of people have that. It's a very nice gift, to be sure. :-)

Right now I must run a few errands... and JEN is coming with me! Sweet!

The Fake God

Jen took Kirstie over to spend the night with some friends (which ended up getting canceled due to a sudden bout with tummy trouble!) and on the way over here's how the conversation went...

"God is far away," Kirstie stated matter of factly.

"Actually, he's right here with us," Mom replied. "God is very close."

"No, not the real God," she clarified, "I mean the fake god."

"The fake god?" asked Mom.

"The white God, in the white building!"

If you drive past the Hill Cumorah visitor center, on the way to our house (we must pass this at least 3 or 4 times a week I'd guess?) you'll see a bright, white, shining Jesus with arms outstretched. We always say hello to "Jesus" as we drive by. But, "He's not the real Jesus," we clarify.

Guess Kirstie picked up on that. :-)

Cute Girls

Last week our girls had their first official modeling session, and today I posted the photos our friends (a client of mine) chose to use on their website. Click Kirstie's photo above and see if you can find the various photos. Julia is in there too :-) So cute!

Feel free to check out the rest of the site, too. The Taylors make good stuff. :-)

Scary Moment for Dad - and Daughter

We went to watch Jen's brother and family play softball last night. It's a family event. All but our niece were there and suited up for the game. We brought our lawn chairs, and gloves and kid ball to play a little catch on the side for ourselves, and some batting practice too, of course :-) We had snacks, nice conversations with friends, and, oh yeah... a softball game! :-)

Our team was winning. (Our team being the one Jen's bro is on, of course...) Winning by a lot. So, I focused my attention on the myriad children surrounding me asking me to pitch to them, or throw to them, or something else with them. I didn't mind, but I certainly was losing track of the softball game.

Until it happened.

I heard someone yell from the field, "Look out!!" There was desperation in the voice, so I reacted quickly. Unfortunately, I only caught a glimpse of the ball as it took aim at its target - my daughter's forehead.

I watched helplessly as the softball came flying past the first row of spectators lining the third base sideline, hit the ground and bounced directly - and still quite quickly, and with great force - into Kirstie's face. She was looking right at it, but obviously to tiny to block it, or even have time to react. It hit her so hard that she was knocked on her back.

She was not crying, and she was still conscious, so I picked her up in my arms and began to examine the injury. Only seconds after impact her forehead was a nasty shade of purple and blue. It was swelling rapidly. Thankfully there were some trained medical folk playing the game that night, and some prepared spectators as well who grabbed some ice and knew what sorts of things to look for that might signal serious brain or head trauma. Thankfully again, none of those signs were yet evident.

A few of the onlookers placed their hands on Kirstie's head and prayed aloud, asking Jesus to help her. (Did I mention this was a church softball league?) :-) I was thankful again, but kinda wishing everyone would let her soak in what just happened. She just seemed in a daze, as was I, admittedly. She was responding to my questions... but not yet speaking. And STILL not crying. That was really beginning to freak me out.

After we had the ice on her head, and she really seemed to be OK, I just sat down in our chair - Kirsten still in my arms - and rested with her, still applying the ice. I kept asking her if anything hurt. They said headaches, blurry vision, nausea... bad. So, I was hoping for none of those. And, again, thankfully none of those came.

But for some reason... I was the one getting a bit light headed.

I kept trying to fight it off, but I could not. I kept feeling worse and worse, and I finally told Jen, "Man! I need to lay down or something! You need to take her before I drop her!" It was crazy! She was able to make the transfer, and I laid down on the grass behind her. I felt a lot better after a short horizontal break. I don't know what happened, but my heart was racing, and I felt very light headed and dizzy.

I thought Kirsten was supposed to be the one who was injured? :-) Probably just all my "dadness" wearing off, and my sickness from the days before reminding me that my body was too weak to be a super hero.

As I regained my strength, I continued to find colder ice pack options for Kirsten, and to regularly ask her questions. She kept getting back to normal. That was so good to see. But though all seemed fine, all I could think about was that vision of a ball screaming in from the field, bouncing hard off the ground, and planting itself in my daughter's forehead. I can still see it as I type this. I don't ever want to see that again.

You know what's even crazier? A couple innings later, there was ANOTHER head injury! This time, the shortstop was making a play at third, and as the runner tried to slide in to the base, her head dropped into the ball that was coming rather quickly. More pain. More huddling. More praying. Not good.

Thankfully (I keep using that word...) all left the field that night with only nasty bruises. Our heads are pretty fantastic, to be sure. They can take a serious beating and we're none the worse for wear. Amazing.

Kirstie slept just fine last night, and awoke this morning in great spirits, as though nothing happened. Well, not entirely. She has retold the story in various forms many, many times today. :-) That's certainly understandable when a three year old stared down a 40-50 mph flying softball, and won.

She's tough. No doubt about it.

That's the last time I want to see her prove it, though!

What Color Are Yours?

This morning, I was brushing Kirsten's hair, and I think I made some comment about how beautiful she is... because she is. :-)

When I did, she said, "What color are yours?"

I actually didn't know what she was talking about, but she was staring at my eyes, so I think I clarified, "My eyes?"

She nodded. Then she said, "Yours are black. Everybody's are black."

I just smiled and said, "Yes they are. You're right. We're all the same!"

Isn't that cool? Kirstie doesn't see the differences at age three... she sees the similarities. Not all the time, but this time, I think she got it right. We all have black.

And so, we're the same. :-)

My Face Hurts, and Spooky Dreams

This past weekend, we went over to Buffalo to celebrate with a friend (who is also now our nieces' grandpa...) his 20 years of working with the same church where Jen's dad was for some 30 plus years. There were lots of blasts from the past. It was quite nice.

The only not nice thing was Kirsten kept complaining of being slightly sick.. like she needed to throw up maybe. That's always a bad thing... We made it through the night without that, and a very tired Kirstie fell asleep on the hour and a half ride home. All seemed well.

At about 12:30, all had gone to bed, but I was still putting some things away, cleaning up, etc... when I heard Kirstie crying. I went into her room and she was still asleep... so I just helped her get under her blankets again, I figured she was just really, really tired. She went right back to sleep... all was well.

I went downstairs to watch a science show I had been wanting to watch for a very long time. I'm sure I saw most of it, but near the end, I fell asleep... maybe around 1:15 or 1:30? I was out for a long time, but just before I woke up, I had a very clear dream where I was waking up and Jen said to me, "Good, now you can help Kirstie." Our clock's hourly chime woke me up, and I realized where I was - shook off the strange ending to that dream (though I did check to see if Kirstie was crying again or something - and headed upstairs.

All was quiet, until I reached the top of the steps. As my foot touched the top step, Kirstie started crying again!! I was a little freaked out the my wife had told me in a dream that I needed to help Kirsten. But, actually, that made me take her cry more seriously. I went in and found her uncovered again, and as I picked her up to get her blankets, I noticed she was burning up!!! No wonder she was crying!!!

She definitely had a fever, though I couldn't prove that, since I had no idea where to even look for the thermometer..... :-) I did check in the "normal" place, but, not many things are in the "normal" place in our house... :-) Anyway, I got her some fever reducing medicine (the last of it) and brought her into the bathroom to give that to her. She started crying again, louder this time. Jen comes in and just stands at the door of the bathroom for a second. No words are spoken. About 3 seconds later, she turns around and just goes back to bed! That was a funny scene. :-)

Kirstie manages to get the medicine down, followed by a tiny cup of cold water (she really likes that part... even at three in the morning!) and I got her back in bed. I was a bit disturbed by having been told in a dream that my daughter needed help, so I continued to chat with God about her and whether she would be alright. I decided to wait till 3:30 then go check on her.

At precisely 3:30, I went back into her room and checked her forehead... she was cooling right down. She was still awake, so we asked God together to help her rest so she could get better. She smiled, I left, He helped, we went to sleep.

Fast forward to lunch time. The day had been pretty good so far. Kirstie did not eat much for breakfast... but she seemed to be doing fine. During lunch however, she had gotten down to use "the potty" and while contemplating the deep things of life on said potty... she says, "My face hurts. I need to rest so it can get better."

"Your face hurts?"

"Yeah, right here," she pointed to her forehead. "I need to rest so it can get better."

:-)

So, I took her hand and we went up to her room and asked God to take away her face hurt so she could sleep. He did, she did, and all was better.

Kirstie did ask one more time that day if she could rest so her face wouldn't hurt, but it seems the face hurting ended by Tuesday. We're glad for that.

It is so fun to hear the things that come from a two-year-old's heart out through their mouths. It's kinda weird to hear that comes from the mouth of your spouse in your dreams sometimes.... :-)

God Is In Our Family, Too

Just a quickie here...

I was reading a story to Kirstie tonight, and we got to a part where I was reading about something that God made. The narrator of the story was saying something about God (I forget what) and Kirsten interrupts to tell me, "God's in our family, too!" Ha! That was awesome. I said, "Yep! You're right! He's in our family, too!" :-) It's so cool that she knows him as a person, and even a member of our family!

A great line, from a great little girl. :-)