Christmas Tree Giggles

Someone had the giggles when I tried to get a picture by the tree. Note the lack of ornaments within toddler arms reach. Colin is holding his favorite new ornament -- a brightly colored toucan, wearing a santa hat and holding an ornament in his beak.

We Got Elfed

This is hillarious! Take a look:

Hey, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link below.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9613912931

This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax®.

Not So Jolly

I was out at our local mall running an errand and I passed the Santa station -- and he wasn't busy. I had visions of putting Colin on Santa's knee and having a great Christmas picture all in a matter of a minute.

Uhhhh; no!

He was so scared of Santa that he started crying and ran away. Apparently this is common for most young toddlers, so Santa graciously tried to offer a "high 5," and Mrs. Claus told us to come back often and maybe after a few times he would be ready.

Hmm. I think we'll try this again in about 12 months!

So this brings me to another dilemma -- his stocking. I've looked in stores and online and can't find anything I remotely like. OK. So I like the needlepoint stockings on the Neiman Marcus website, but they're a lil' pricey. So we came to the "non decison" last night of deciding that when he is older he can pick out one he likes. We'll just use a non descript one this year.

Nativity Playtime

I decided this year that Colin needed his own nativity to manipulate so that he would leave the breakable one alone. He already chewed the head off of my wax turkey candle, so he needed something of his own to gnaw on. I was all prepared to buy the Little People set when we made a trip to our local Lifeway Bookstore. Colin was fixated on the Veggie Tales nativity, and it was $10 cheaper than the Little People set. So guess what we now own?

It's pretty cute -- Jimmy and Jerry Gourd fit into a cow costume to make up one of the animals for the stable. However, we quickly removed the battery from the angel because we couldn't stand to hear her shrill voice sing "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" over and over and over. He has already spent a few hours moving the nativity pieces from one part of the room to the other. It's definitely a hit!

1 1/2 year Update

Colin recently turned 1 1/2, so I thought I would update you on what life is like with our lil guy at 18 months!

- He is really enjoying his Mega Bloks. Last night he started playing with them while I cooked dinner. When Matt came home over 45 minutes later, he didn't want to stop playing "just" to eat dinner. I love that his favorite toy doesn't require batteries and is super quiet! It's fun to watch him build various towers, etc. His dad's childhood favorite was legos, so Colin's the proverbial chip off the ole "blok" (OK -- so I couldn't resist the pun!)

- Signing "please" and "thank you" are some of his favorites, and he sometimes uses both hands on his chest to sign "please" (or "double please" as we call it when he really wants something.) Signing has come in handy for us to communicate. I am hoping these are some of his 2 favorites to verbalize when we round that corner.

- He enjoys playing at the water table at the Children's Museum - we got a family membership and go a few times a week. He enjoys manipulating the various water levers to make adjustments to the water levels, etc. It's fun to see how he gets the cause and effect of it all. And he always goes home VERY wet!

- He is taking a few classes through the local parks and recreation department. We are fortunate to have a fantastic city program. He is enjoying swim lessons (with dad) on Saturdays and is taking a Baby Beethoven (music) class, as well. Each week has a theme, and this past week we sang turkey songs. I will be curious as December comes if we will sing generic songs like 'Frosty the Snowman' and 'Jingle Bells,' or if we will sing a diverse array of songs from different faiths. I'll have to keep you posted on that one!

- Saturday nights are lots of fun for Colin - he just loves being with other kids at Saturday night church. This past weekend as we walked down the hall to leave, a few older boys ran past him. He grinned from ear to ear and tried to run and catch up with them. And then of course he cried when we left all of the fun to go home for the night.

- As much fun as he has at church, it's so much fun to go and pick him up from his class. He sees us and runs with his arms bent close to his chest (that cute 18 month old run) and just reaches up to issue a great big hug. I was even more surprised after MOPS this past week that he even accompanied that big hug with a great big kiss planted right on the smacker. "Ahhh, it's great to see you, too!"

- And did I mention his favorite show? He absolutely adores Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. We even listen to Veggie Tales silly songs in the car, though I may have listened to Larry sing "I love my Lips" one time too many!

- We are fortunate to have a good eater who seems to enjoy most all of the foods we eat, as well. We are very thankful, and hope this continues. He loves the QDoba chicken, as well as their Mexican gumbo, (who doesn't, right?) He's now oficially 3 feet tall, so I contribute some of that to his openness to eating and trying new foods.

- Last but not least, his favorite little buddy is our family cat. He gently offers hugs to the cat (he bows his head and rubs it near the cat -- and the cat fully tolerates it.)

Bubbles

Often on chilly nights I settle into a tub full of bubbles to relax from the day and have some "me" time. Only a few weeks ago I decided to soak while reading through Christianbook.com's latest catalog to get book ideas for our couples Bible study group. I came across several books that caught my attention - topics ranging from Jewish feasts, to angels, to heaven, to this one -- titled "Unchristian."

And tonight our couples Bible study spent the night conversing with the author of the book -- turns out, he's a good friend of one of the couples in our group. Pretty cool interaction, and interesting (and at times, sad) research on views of Christians.

We somehow got onto the topic of the Christian "Bubble" -- several of us went to universities that had this bubble - from Baylor, to Biola, to JBU -- and we talked about how that bubble can be a great thing for a time (i.e. 4 years of college), but that you have to learn how to engage with the rest of the world.

Did I learn that while I was in my Baylor bubble? After graduation I just moved on to Houston where I cozied myself up in a megachurch and worked at conservative places like banks and accounting firms. Hmmm.

I have much to reflect upon tonight regarding how to put my theology into practice.

I hear a tub full of bubbles calling my name.

Trash Talkin' Monday

I think my city's trash facilities team has determined the most undelightful way to wake me and my family every Monday morning: they send the trash truck on the early route to my house!

Each Monday at around 7:20 am (I say "around" because a few weeks ago he made it here at 6:59 am -- no joke!), the trash truck makes its rounds throughout the cul de sac. Each time it backs up to get an angle on the next house, those loud backing beeps go off, along with the thud of all of the trash being dumped. And that's just for the waste bins -- then comes the truck for the recycling. Fortunately the third truck for green debris comes well AFTER breakfast.

It's like clockwork -- the truck comes, and then about 30 seconds later a little someone is singing into the monitor.

"Wakey, wakey," says the trash truck.

Hmph!
~~~~~~~

So I titled this trash talkin' Monday for ANOTHER reason. Bank holidays! I went to the bank today (someone tease me for not remembering my bank holidays -- I only worked at 2 different banks over several years.) Yes, it was closed. Oh, and the local community centers with open gym time for toddlers? Closed. Libraries with story hour? Closed. Oh, and the really cool local children's museum? Closed. Actually, it's closed every Monday.

When I was (ahhem) younger - I'm sure I just loved these random holidays. I slept in, perhaps went to a doctors appointment (they are indeed open), and of course did a little shopping.

And now? What I wouldn't give for some place indoors to let our lil' guy run free. Sure, I could go to the mall along with every other mom in a 15 mile radius who is also out of indoor options. I could battle for a place for Colin on the top of the Tugboat in the mall, hoping that a 10 year old doesn't leap onto him. Those mall play areas are wild when you're little.

Come to think of it, maybe we can just stay home and wait for the third trash truck to come. He does wave at Colin through the window, after all.

Happy Veteran's Day!

We would like to wish a Happy Veteran's Day to friends and family who have served our nation. Colin's Great Grandpas Walker, Biggs and Sturm all served in WWII and his uncle Clint was in the Airforce, as well.

Thanks for helping protect and defend our freedom!

PJs are Over-Rated

Funny story from the Sturm house this morning -- I usually let our lil guy stay in his crib first thing in the morning for a while and just jabber away. We all like to lay in bed a bit, right? This morning after he had a short conversation with the toy on his crib, he must have either been hot or bored. When I walked in his room he had thrown his blakets out of his crib and he was holding his zip up PJs.

Yep, that's right, he was holding them in his hand. He was laughing and dancing away like such a happy little boy, practically naked as a jay bird. I guess we now know he can undress himself completely, including undoing the little footies of the pajamas. Guess we'll give those cute lil zip up PJs a break for a while.

And yes, thank goodness the diaper was still on! Those overnight Huggies have super power velcro. And now I know why!

Mommy Firsts

Parenting, as I have discovered is full of "firsts" for you as a parent; some great, and some not so great. Our family had a few this past week:

1. We got reservations for a nice dinner and proceeded to have a fussing child signing "All done" right before the waiter arrived. That is, just 15 seconds after sitting down. Hmmm, bad idea! Our understanding waiter was probably joyful when I told him we just weren't going to make it that night and we left before even ordering.
2. I got a wild idea and put Colin in the Suburban-sized grocery cart at Albertson's (the one with the little tykes style car attached to the front of the grocery cart.) The first 15 minutes he yelled throughout the store with pure glee (while honking the car's horn at passers-by who thought I was nuts; they may have been right!), and the last 15 minutes he threw a fit because he was all done (see a theme here?) We needed groceries, however, so I practically ran down everything in sight in the store driving that thing to complete my list. And yes, I did have a list.
3. When I took him out of the car cart he screamed and lay prostrate on the ground (but I thought you were all done?) Charming, absolutely charming. A moment that makes every mom proud. I managed to coax him into the Rite Aid next door so I could pick up some photos. He was so deliriously spent that I stuck the closest toy I saw in his hand...and then bought it! Fortunately it was a 4 inch long car toy that is a mini Audi TT and has doors that open and close. Kind of a cool toy for a split second decision. My first impulse buy to tame an unhappy child. Charming, just charming (?!*!)
4. We had out first outing to the big local zoo -- pretty cool! He's definitely not ready yet for the exhibits with the harder to see or low activity animals (like the reptiles.)
5. We checked out the indoor Toddler Play Time at 2 local community centers. What a great way to burn off some toddler energy! The community centers set aside the gym area, filled with toys, trikes, balls, etc., and the toddlers get to run wild and terrorize the gym rather than your living room. fabulous play date set-up!

Whole

A few months ago a good friend of mine asked me to begin praying for a college friend and her family. Their 2 1/2 year old son, Judson, has been battling a rare, genetic, incurable disease since May called Krabbe disease. This lively and talkative littleboy became mute, blind, and compeltely paralyzed in these past 6 months.

The faith journey of Jud's parents has really pushed me to examine my own faith. As I am going through a Bible study called, "Believing God," I have really examined my heart and have prayed to God, as the father does in Mark 9. Jesus explains that everything is possible for him who believes. The father exclaims in 9:24 "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

Jesus, I do believe; please help me overcome my unbelief.

This morning Judson saw Jesus face to face and was healed. His body is whole once again. Thank you, Lord, for growing the faith of so many, including me, through the life of this precious little boy and the testimony of his parents.

Quack, Quack,Quack!

Guess who didn't make it home for dinner last night? And no, I'm not talking about Matt.

Just The Way The Cookie Crumbles

Growing up my brother would use the phrase, "That's just the way the cookie crumbles" -- sometimes you get a really big piece with lots of yummy, ooey gooey chips, and other times you get a handful of crumbs. This past week we got a hand full of crumbs.

We had plans to go out of town that just seemed to spiral out of our control just a few days before leaving for the ten day trip. "Rats," I thought. "This isn't really happening, is it?"

Oh yes, it was.

This kind of disappointment fits into the kind I recall from childhood. Like the time I went to sign up for a musical instrument in 5th grade band, and all that was left when I got there was the tuba. The tuba? What's a girlie girl, dress loving girl to do with a tuba? OK, so I played it and played it well, but I am convinced now it was purely to have fodder for the stupid team building game called "Two truths and a lie."

1. I played the tuba
2. I grew up in a small town
3. I like dark chocolate

Stumper, eh? People always fell for the tuba as the "lie."

Anyhooo.....So my dear husband attempted to make the best of our flubbed up trip plans, the cat sang a great big "Amen" because his humans weren't leaving town, and we decided to have day trips here in our own city -- the zoo, aquarium, children's museum, parks, restaurants, etc. I was even given a surprise trip to the local spa.

Tonight was suppose to be an early Thanksgiving dinner with my family in Panhandle. I thought of you all tonight -- I am so bummed I wasn't able to be there. And Colin is so much fun right now that I am sad for every minute of him that you miss. We are truly thankful for you and can't wait to see you soon!

Disappointment. It's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Zoo

We took our lil' giraffe to the zoo on Friday and he really enjoyed seeing the bigger animals like the jaguar (who kept pacing and staring at Colin as if to say -- "Hmmmm, he would make a tasty snack!"), elephants, and the giraffes. The hippos gave a big show, as well. It was a brisk, cool morning, so the orangutans and other tree dwellers were no where to be seen, so better luck next time.

The Zoomazium indoor play and exploration area provided a nice retreat from the cool weather -- and Colin really enjoyed the indoor rock structures and lower "cave" areas. The other indoor exhibits were a hit, as well, if you like seeing porcupines and bats while you zoom along at about 5 mph! No patient lingering and observation for this guy! The cock roach display grossed me out, but I was very fascinated by the cute little tamarins (smaller than I would have expected.)