100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers

I like movies, and I like movie lists, and I like clever videos. So I like this:

Powerful Statement against Postmodernism

I don’t watch TV, and haven’t seen ER in years, but this clip was simply amazing. Talk about a writer with a keen understanding of what every human needs.

Brother & Sister

Max and Elanor enjoyed some time together today. They are both really sweet with each other, although Max still doesn’t realise that Elanor is more fragile than he is :-). You can watch the video here if you want to.

Pretty soon we begin the long process of packing up boxes again. We are eager to move back to California, especially since there is still snow on the ground. Please pray that we can accomplish all we need to, that our house would sell, and that we can make it safely back home.

Maxfield’s Shorter Catechism

…overheard during Max’s bath tonight…

Me: “Max, who made you?”
Max: “God.”
Me: “What else did God make?”
Max: “Play-doh.”

I wonder what these guys would have thought of that.

Bonne Fete A Toi

It’s terrible I haven’t written about this sooner. Oh well.

A couple of weeks ago Max turned two. This is a fairly big deal: he’s our first child; he is becoming more… somewhat…kinda responsible; he speaks in full sentences–he’s just growing up. So, we wanted to do something fun for him that day. Luckily, Grandma Jeanne was in town, so we headed on over to the St. Louis Magic House, a favourite of Max’s. Our good friends the Wilks were able to join us, and Max and Kayleigh (their daughter, and Max’s betrothed) blissfully spent several hours playing with all the fun things there.

After that, it was home for a nap then up for cake and presents! Now Max wishes that he could always wake up from a nap like that. 🙂

The Winter of our Content

I know it’s been awhile since I posted. It’s been crazy around here. We returned from California (sick, I might add), celebrated Max’s second birthday (already?), began a new semester of school, and generally adjusted to life as a family of four–all within a matter of days. I think we’re now finally coming up for air. Elanor and Max recently went to the doctor for their check-ups. Both are healthy and doing quite well. Elanor is now almost 11 pounds, and starting to smile.  You can almost see it in these pictures. 🙂

The Situation Room

Our house has been a bustle of activity these past two weeks. Adjusting to new schedules, sounds, smells is finally becoming easier. Max is now fascinated with helping change Elanor’s diaper–in his mind, nothing is more interesting! Kristin is doing well. We both are excited for our imminent holiday to California next week. The break will be much enjoyed, as will our time of fellowship with family and friends. Until next time, though, I’ll tide you over with these new pictures.

Home at Last

…Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill,
as day was ending once more.
And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected.
And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.

He drew a deep breath. “Well, I’m back,” he said.

Becoming a Family

Today marked our first day as a family of four. Max and I woke up this morning and headed over to see Kristin and Elanor. Our friend Michelle was there to video tape the first sibling meeting (video to come), and to provide assistance if the meeting went sour (it didn’t). It was a good time, and I think Max will do very well as a big brother, although he still doesn’t quite know what is going on yet. I think he feels that his new baby doll sister will be a nice curiosity for awhile; we’ll see how he does in a couple of weeks.

Ok, so here’s the story (now that I’m awake enough to remember it properly): we had a great day yesterday spending time with friends over for lunch. All seemed to be going well until later in the evening. At 6pm we had supper; Kristin put Max in the bath, and I put him to bed. When I came out of Max’s room (approximately 7pm–you’ll see why the timeline is important in a moment), Kristin complained about feeling “weird.” She felt like she was having cramping…but they could have been contractions…but they could have been bad pot roast–she just didn’t know. So we decided to wait and see. We called our friend who had offered to watch Max, just to give her a “heads up” that something might actually be happening.

Well, something certainly was.

By 8pm she knew that it definitely was NOT cramping, and couldn’t have been anything else than contractions. They were severe enough to  have us call our friend to come over, and I quickly packed a suitcase for Kristin. Our friend arrived at 8:30, and we headed out the door. Now, I don’t know what it’s like for most people, but having a woman in the passenger’s seat screaming in labour pains doesn’t make driving very fun. So we sped as fast as we could to the hospital, and arrived at 9:00. After slowly pushing Kristin to the labor & delivery floor (stopping during every contraction–which was now every minute), we finally made it to the delivery room. The nurses quickly put Kristin in her gown, and checked to see how far along she was:

She was ready to push.

Let me repeat that: she was ready to push.

I had just driven 10 miles in a pick-up truck with a woman who was physically at the threshold of giving birth to my second child. I almost made some poor state trooper pull over and deliver this baby, if we hadn’t made it to the hospital quickly.

So, Kristin is ready to push, but her water hadn’t yet broken; the nurses broke her water (it’s now 9:25–about ten minutes after we entered the delivery room), and instructed Kristin to push. She gave two strong pushes, and the baby popped out! Just like that! At 9:31 PM (Central Time-sorry Dick), just a little over a half an hour from when we arrived, our daughter was born. Talk about a close call. 🙂

Elanor Leigh came into this world weighing 7lbs. 11 oz. and measuring 20 inches long.  She and Kristin come home tomorrow, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m curious to see how this sibling thing will work out. Being an only child, I don’t really know how to resolve the squabbles that will inevitably come. But, I do know how to pray. I think of that great prayer that the Apostle Paul prays in Ephesians chapter 1; hopefully he will forgive me for particularising it for my own children:

I do not cease to give thanks for Max and Elanor,
remembering them in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give them a spirit of wisdom and of revelation
in the knowledge of Him,
having the eyes of their hearts enlightened,
that they may know what is the hope to which He has called them,
what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power
toward us who believe…

May the Lord extend His grace to you this Christmas, just as we have received it from Him.

Jake

Elanor is Here!

actually, I’m having problems with this website, so she is actually over HERE!

(sorry about that!)