Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Bathtism


We Baptized Jacob in our church today, and we were Blessed to be surrounded with loved ones, but there were a few folks that weren't able to make it.  So for those family members that missed it, here is the bit of video we captured:  



I know there's a lot of debate on whether to baptize as infants or as adults.  We believe in Infant Baptism.  I do not believe that God denies entry into heaven to any children not baptized.  I heard an acquaintance say once, "Baptism is our way of acknowledging that God says I Love You, and Confirmation is our way of saying I Love You too."  Today was like saying goodbye to all the crud - the bedrest, the sickness, the Fear and just sitting back and enjoying God's Presence in our lives.  Especially in Jacob's life.  Though Jacob has been in God's hands for a lot longer than just today; God has clearly been with him all along.  How Wonderful to be able to Celebrate the birth of Jacob with our friends and family!  His baptism today was not just a Celebration of his formal entry into the Family of Christ, but it was a Celebration of his birth, his life.  We are so Blessed by Jacob, and it has been so comforting to be able to share him with my loved ones.   

Of course, I took a bunch of pictures, or had them taken.  So now I'm sharing them. :)


Upon arrival at the church, we found the Easter lilies in bloom.  Usually at Easter, people buy lilies and take them home...but in the rare case that they are left behind, they get planted.   And this weekend, they were blooming.  I took it as a Sign.  A Blessing from above.  Jacob was almost an Easter baby. 



When we got inside last night to practice, this banner was waiting for us.  I was so touched, my eyes watered, and I didn't notice until after the baptism that Ezekiel was misspelled.  And I barely cared.  It meant so much that someone would make something homemade for baby Jacob.  I made him a blanket, but since he's the third boy in the family, the majority of his stuff is hand-me-down, not so much homemade. So it means a lot. 


Before the service, Jacob made the social rounds.  He got to get some snuggles in with Aunt Lisa and Miss Ashley.  



I have a friend, she's the fiance of a friend from college that we were in band with.  And you know how it is, family in the band is family forever.  So when I heard she made cakes, I thought I'll ask if she'd be open to making us one for Jacob's baptism.  They live in Elkhart, it's a bit of a hoof, but I've never tried her stuff, and I really wanted to taste some.  So I asked, and believed it or not, she said Yes!  And she offered not just to meet me on Saturday, but to bring them all the way down to the church.  And when she showed up, she didn't just bring 1 cake, she brought 2!  


Oh, and she wasn't done.  She made a "few cupcakes" too.  
The yellow cake is a chocolate cake with andes mint filling, and the green cake was a white cake with fresh strawberries in the center.  
And the cupcakes were topped with yellow and green chocolates. And not one smidge of Red 40! 
And the cupcakes on the side, there were peanut butter ones, with peanut butter inside and mini reese cups on top, and then there were coffee creme filled ones with chocolate covered coffee beans on top.  

She went Buck Wild!


Pastor asked us not to take pictures during the Service, so I only pulled out the Point and Shoot to get videos.  The Fam joined us in giving a Vocal Offering in honor of Jacob.



It got a little bumpy in a couple places, but we pulled it together at the end, maybe Eric and I were too teary.


For we are indeed Proud Parents! 


Parents and Godparents. 


The kids joined us at the altar for the Baptism, of course it's like herding cats, but now instead of just being joined in bonds of honorary fraternity/sorority brotherhood/sisterhood, our families are joined under God.  We've long called the kids cousins, just to explain our closeness, or when we travel together, we just say we're family.  And God just keeps bringing our families closer together.  I think that's been part of His plan in bringing us together all along.  


Our sweet family of 5 on the altar.  We had Aunt Lisa and Grandma being goofy behind Dad W.'s head as he was trying to take pictures of us, so we all look a little goofy.  


I love all the Turquoise!  
I swear we didn't send out a memo that this was the color scheme I'd picked out, I just happened to find a few shirts I liked, but all of us look so summery and sweet! 


I just love these. 


The Proud Godparents 


We even got Pastor to come back over and pose a little bit with us.  



Marked by the sign of the cross, sealed as a child of God, forever.

On the way home, Christopher said, "Now that Jacob has been Bathtized, he is a lamb to God."
I had to laugh.  How sweet the Faith of children. 


Meanwhile,  my friend Amanda put the cakes and cupcakes out, in a simply beautiful spread, and was able to stay for the Service.  


And we took over the Family Life Center for a scrumptious luncheon.  
My reunion group sister Margie made a wonderful pulled pork and layered salad, and we had veggies, potato salad, green fluff, chips, and of course Cake.  We were so Blessed by our friends culinary gifts!


I actually got to eat my wonderful meal because people wanted to hold Jacob.  It was Great! 



Such as one very proud Godmother.  :)  


And of course, Grandpa loves to get his snuggles in too.  


And what is right for one Grandpa, is also right for a Great Grandpa.  

Technically Jacob's great grandpa Willman saw him at the funeral for Grandpa Chambers, but this was the first time the two actually got to know each other.  

4 generations of Willman men (and boys). 

What an Awesome day.  

Awesome and Exhausting.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Freezer Cooking Night

I made it to Freezer Cooking night this week.  
It has been months since I've been able to attend.  We've been the recipients of food for a few months, even not participating.  Our group meets once a month, and we make 5-8 copies of a meal, then meet and switch coming home with half a dozen different frozen meals we can whip out and fix up.  But this was the first month in ages that I've wanted to go and felt almost sort of up to even being out at night.  Woohoo!  Now, I still didn't do the cooking, but I did help with the Shopping which I hadn't been up to either.  It felt so good to see all my gal pals.  I have been missing out on so much of their lives, I felt kind of sad.  But we still found plenty to laugh about.  This month, we made up for not participating last month by Eric putting together Nicki's Spanish Flank Steak, one of my favorites.  It smells so good, even in the plastic, you can smell the awesome marinade!  This month was officially Greatest Hits month, since we celebrate our group's anniversary, birthday, whatever, we started in June, so we celebrate that each June (all 2) by doing a greatest hits meeting.  We vote and everything.  We were voted to make Mom's Cheese and Sausage Pie, always a favorite around here for Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Whatever! 

I brought Jacob, because as we say around here, he goes everywhere Mommy's boobs go, and he was pretty good.  And my friend N hosted, and her husband made a trifle, a lovely red, white, and blue bowl of cake.  I need to do that!  And we had our traditional sparkling pink moscato.  Yes, I even had a glass.  Just one though, it's amazing how affected I am by full caffeine and alcohol after not having them for so long.  Jake allowed for it, if I drink, it's usually while or immediately after nursing, he woke shortly after arrival and was repeatedly interested in drinking.  And his drinking made him interested in filling his pants.  

When he needed a diaper change, that proved problematic, I opened the bag, and there were no diapers.  There was only a dirty diaper from earlier in the day - AHH! I only had a dirty size 1, and 2 Sam-size pullups.  OK, so I put him in a pull up.  It's only the 2t-3t size.  Amazingly enough, my little butterball Fit into the pullup.  Of course, he pooed through that too.  And my friend Amy broke out her emergency size 5, and again, Jake fit pretty decently into that.  It bought me another hour of socializing time.  And then I had to put him in the last pullup.  I was amazed, the entire time, he didn't break through his clothes.  There were no leaks.  Of course, the entire time, he was not interested in sleeping.  


That was OK, there were plenty of friends interested in holding a sweet baby.  Alexandra was calling herself the Baby Whisperer, and was actually dancing to the awesome 90's mix of music playing in the background. Yes, My baby likes Kris Kross, it doesn't make him Jump Jump, but he does stop crying. ;) 


And it worked, eventually, he went to sleep.  

And I got him home and changed him into some real diapers.  

But it was so nice to get out, to see my friends, to drive home at sunset with the lightning bugs in the cornfields.  It was a Wonderful evening. Maybe next month, I'll even feel up to cooking! 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Cannonballs

For some awesome reason our pool is still holding together, so the boys can still keep going outside to swim!    And all of us love a nice late afternoon (early evening) swim.  


Yesterday though, while dinner was cooking, I took all three boys outside for a swim, and I'm so Thankful I did.  They kept playing Cannonball!  Though neither boy is very accurately doing them, they are pretty fun to watch.  Sam is especially funny, because his cannonballs involve simply jumping in place, getting minimally wet.  

But Sam was having a ton of fun playing with the beachball.  


Christopher has been only wanting to swim underwater lately.  


The reason this was such a wonderful evening swim was because I was able to talk Christopher into doing some "practice" for swim class.   First I got him to Kick while swimming underwater; he's getting quite good at that.  But then he asked me how to touch his belly to the bottom.  Every time he flopped forward he was just below the surface.  Until last summer he hated putting his face underwater.  It's been Revolutionary, that he finally found some Joy in swimming instead of it being torturous.  Then yesterday, I asked him to float on his back.  And he did it.  His belly was dropping down a bit, so I got him to push it up a bit, and he Did!  He floated on his back, ears actually got wet.  For years he has screamed like a maniac when we'd try to make him do it, and he finally did it on his own.  I credit Max, and swimming in Wisconsin last summer at the lake with the beginning of this turnaround.  And I credit the IndyParks swim class staff  at Northwestway with this year's progress.  They are so wonderful over there.  We've done swim class for the last 5 years there, since we had to do Mom and Tot classes.  And he fought and fought.  And this year...he's stopped fighting.  


So it can happen.  

I just need to keep focusing on that, as we try to get Sam to want to get his face in the water.  He's not much of a fan either, but this year he's not running away from his teachers, so I'll take that as progress too.  


In the meantime I can be pretty happy with bubble blowing and cannonballs, because I know eventually, with persistance and perserverance, my boys will Swim!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

First Swim at Home




My wonderful husband got the pool put together and all cleaned up and filled this weekend.  An Exhausting Process.  Given all the other crazy things going on around here, it wasn't the highest item on the list until it got gross hot last weekend.  And that's OK, it wasn't the Official First Day of Summer until last week. Then as soon as he pulls it out to clean it all up, it pours down rain while he was trying to get it ready.  So it waited until Yesterday before we got to get in for our First Swim of the season.  I brought the big boys outside, and they were ecstatic to jump right in.  We all love a good evening swim. They were only mildly annoyed with the water being cold.  It was still 80 something outside, so the air was warm enough for an evening swim.  And Blessedly the mosquitos were not out for blood.  But the water was still cold from just coming out of the hose yesterday...cold enough I didn't want to submerge myself.  But that doesn't stop the big boys! 


However, as I was circling around the back of the pool, I spotted a tiny hole, where water was springing out like a fountain.  I called Eric over, and yup, it's a hole.  Bummer.  And then he spotted another one.  So, two holes.  :(  We're all a little sad that our pool won't be lasting us long this season.  But that's OK, we'll just swim while we can. 


Happy Summer Time! 

VBS


This past week, last Monday, our boys attended VBS at our church.  The theme this year was Kingdom Rock, where Kids Stand Strong for God.  We'd been postponing the decision as to whether or not to let Sam attend, based on if he had potty trained or not.  Turns out he did...just in time.  He pooped in the potty on Monday, so I let him go, of course, then we had an accident on Tuesday, but he went Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday though, he got sick, got a bad case of the pukies in the morning.  Then we were able to all go to the Closing as a Family.  Our friends did a Wonderful job decorating the church.  There was a moat to cross to get into the church, and a drawbridge to get into the sanctuary.  The walls had bricks drawn on paper, and torches, I loved the torches, and it was medieval Awesome! 


I threw my back out before the weekend, and had been in lots of pain all through Father's Day weekend.  Unfortunately, the issues remained, and I ended up at the chiropractor 3 out of the 4 days they were open last week.  Turns out I have a tight butt.  I know, it sounds funny, but my guy says my gluts aren't firing...it feels like they are locked up, and whenever I rest they seize up and I can't move.  I have no strength in my abs, it's like they aren't even there, probably from weakness after 6 months of not being used.  And my back is just shooting.  As a result, I couldn't help with VBS this year.  I could barely handle the children I have, let alone add to it.  Tuesday I had a friend come by and just stay with me, help out with the boys, until Eric got home.  I took his Chiro appt, and got re-adjusted.  And my doc gave me some exercises to work on.  So I worked on those all week.  It helped.

Meanwhile, since I wasn't active in this year's VBS, I only took the above two pictures.  Below were taken by my friend Lori as she was in charge of the whole thing.  She got Sam (can you see him on the left?) with his preschool group outside for their activities, they were hauling blocks made of paper bags, not sure exactly why, Sam was unclear.


And they made crowns for all the princes and princesses in the kingdom of God.  


Christopher leapt into the role of Chivalrous Knight opening doors for people everywhere he went.  


They both had a Wonderful time, and are still Standing Strong for God this week too. 
May it be ever more. 


Monday, June 24, 2013

Mommy Paints

Friday night I got out.  
I know, it's Wild and Crazy.  And after a maddening week of VBS for the kids each evening, they weren't even done and I ran away.  A friend of mine from Mom2Mom was having a Painting Party.  It's like Wine and Canvas, but in her home, and we opted for no wine.  But I have wanted to do some sort of art for a while.  I mean, don't get me wrong, Photography is an art, and it's one I am pretty good at, but it's nice to learn something new.   Back in the day, BC, Before Children, Eric got me a gift of drawing classes at a place down by the mall, I want to say it was for like 2 months of sketching.  I wasn't very talented, but I didn't Take the Time to get better.  I always figured I'd eventually have more time to get artsy.  I just haven't.  Until Devon threw this opportunity my way.  

This gal she knew, an Elementary Art Teacher, just started her own business, painting parties in the home.  Her business is http://www.canvaspaintingsbykatie.com   See if you can spot our party pics on her Successful Parties page.  ;)  It's a new niche, and she's quite good, given that her career is teaching little kids to paint, it's easy enough for her to explain it to a bunch of non-artisans.  Jacob joined us.  He was a big hit.  Although ironically he wasn't the only baby there, nor was he the littlest.  There was a 3 week old baby, and compared to that one, Jake looks like a Beast.  So we set up the living room, and got to it.



Our paintings were titled: Three Little Birds.  Starting with blank white canvas can be a little daunting.  Katie first had us paint a sun or moon of white, then surround it with either purple/blue or yellow orange to achieve a moonlight or sunset sort of look.  It was fun to blend and cover the whole canvas.  I used a smidge of red and white for blending, I felt like quite the pro.  Unfortunately, Jacob got very interested in the proceedings, and wanted to be fed every 1/2 hour.  So I got behind everyone else. 


Then we painted a curlicue tree branch and blocked out our three little birds.  I chose mine to represent my three sweetboys.  So one got a dark green, another dark blue because those are Sam and Chris's favorite color, and Jake got maroon.  It looked like they were backlit, silouetted by the setting sun.  


Everyone else was finishing up as I filled in a few leaves, and the occasion spontaneous twirly flower.  But I couldn't keep up with them, and everyone was packing up, and I would have been there all night, because Jake was getting done.  So I felt rushed.  Hard to say that I was Rushed after 3 1/2 hours, but I rushed my finishing.  Still I love the way everyone's turned out.   We all received the same instructions, so it's really neat to see what everyone did with it.  Guess that's the neat thing about art classes.  

 
My Final Product.


I had a wonderful time doing this, and I plan on doing it again next month, one of my friends booked another party.  I would host myself, but I've got Too much Crazy going on here still.  The theme is a cross, if you'd like to come with me, let me know.  


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

For Bohl and Bill's Baby Boy

On Father's Day, well, after we did our Father's Day celebrations, we went to our friends' baby shower.  They just got married last year, and we're so excited to be able to share in this Joy too!  

Welcome Baby Zwieg! 


They call their sweet little one Nugget.  So the color for the shower was Gold, and Black was because Bohl is all about the Steelers.  It was co-ed, and  I have some pretty hysterical jokesters as friends.


Someone gave the baby Peepee Teepees (shields for covering while changing).  I didn't need these with my three boys, but I would have only needed them with Chris I think, his changes took the longest.  I was paid a very high compliment while changing Jacob while at the shower, "you are really fast" from a friend with a new little girl.  That is High Praise.  At least I have acquired some skills while being a Stay at Home Mom, speedy diaper changing and multi-tasking.  


It was an especially wonderful day because one of our hostesses was celebrating bringing home their newly adopted daughter Meghan.  She is so sweet, she slept the whole time we were there.  I got this wonderful photo of her with her parents. :)  


And Bohl got in a little practice too. ;)   Double decker babies, one above and one below. 


I was manning Nancy's camera during the portion of the shower where presents were opened for Bohl, so she could help out, so I didn't get any pictures of that part of the fun, but at the end, we surprised her with a little "sprinkle" for Nancy too.  It was a Double Blessed Baby Shower to celebrate all this Joy! 


Jacob got to meet his new girlfriend Meghan.  Compared to her, he looks like a Beast, doesn't he?!


We'll see who remains the biggest child for long.  

Monday, June 17, 2013

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Daddy!  


I know, it doesn't look like Jacob is very happy.  In truth, he's not.  He's not remotely happy.  
He hates hats and booties, and barely tolerates socks.  


For Father's Day my main gift to Eric was Sleep.  I got up with Jacob before he could wake Daddy, and on the second run, Eric came running out, "I heard a funny noise. " He was worried about the baby. Yeah, it was just your child, being awake again.  He was cute that he missed it.  I felt bad that he woke up worrying.  But you know, that's the thing about being a Parent, you Worry about them all the time, waking or sleeping, doesn't matter.  


But still, we got the boys all dressed and to church to celebrate Father's Day with Daddy.  

And the boys were very good in church for him.   


After church we ran down to Greenwood to celebrate Father's Day with My Daddy.  
I found him the coolest present.  It was a coffee mug made to look just like a camera lens.  It looks like a Canon lens, the font is the same, but it's not until you look closely that you can see that it doesn't actually Say Canon, but Canain or something.  Daddy thought it was cool too.  He said, "Wow, this is so cool, I'm going to take it to Work!"  That's High Praise, a resounding success in gift giving, which is kind of my goal.  We met up at Brozzini's Pizzeria.  They have the best buffalo wings this side of the Niagara, and I've been madly craving pizza with ricotta on it.  My cravings couldn't decide between their white pizza or the Bazbeauz one with bacon and mushrooms too, so I compromised and got their white pizza WITH bacon and mushrooms.  Pretty sure the pizza angels sang on that one.  It was so good to see my family.  We haven't spent enough time with them lately.   


Aunt Lisa got her snuggles in.  Jacob got a big kick out her new blue hair.  



And Jacob got to meet his Uncle James.  
He checked him out for a few minutes, then started yelling.  All he wants to do is nurse right now. 
Eric and I were talking, of all the people in our family that Jacob is named after - Uncle James is the only one he's going to meet until heaven.  Not Grandpa Jim, or Eric's great uncle Jacob.  And not THE Ezekiel.  But Uncle James is a great role model for right here right now.  We have some Wonderful Fatherly role models for our boys.  James is Serving our country so well, they want to send him to Jordan to show them how it's done.  Bummer.  But at least we have him now.  Just wait until Jacob is old enough to Play, then boy howdy will they have some Fun! 


And no family get together is complete without the manditory Family Picture.  So if you ever wonder where I get it.... As it should be.