kids bible

Caleb isnt quite reading yet, but we already have a bunch of kids Bibles. some are better than others, and I think the whole category is better named "books that contain Bible stories" but I guess "children's Bible" is a lot easier to say. I really dont like it when they water down or obscure the gospel, like when one of them says something like: "God said dont eat from the tree, or bad things will happen." yikes. "bad things?!" more like "you will surely die." but that's a soapbox that I wont stand on too long right now.

anyway, Caleb just received as a gift (thanks gramma and grampa!) what must be the best kids Bible ever, called The Big Picture Story Bible. it was just published by Crossway, and it is beautiful. it's not just a collection of Bible stories, like pretty much every other kids Bible I've seen. they weave how all of scripture points to Jesus through the entire book, in simple words and simply beautiful pictures.

some other cool stuff about it: it's a coffee-table sized book and a whopping 456 pages. the illustrations are bright, fun and very well done. I love how the artist uses different perspectives throughout. and, it is super cheap (for what you're getting) at only $20 list (and even cheaper on amazon). check out the PDFs for a couple chapters at the link above.

Caleb seems to like the bright pictures as we read it to him, and I'm sure he'll enjoy it as he grows. so go buy it for a kid you know.

learning, etc.

it's amazing to see my tiny son learning already. I know that he's been learning things for a long time now, but to see it in action is pretty cool. not surprisingly, the few things that I've observed involve food.

we have him on a relatively regular schedule, which is working out great. after his nap time, it's time for him to eat. he's pretty much used to the schedule, so he'll wake up about the right time for the latest bottle. these days he'll prop himself on his elbows and start crying. not too loud, but you definitely wouldnt be able to ignore it. anyway, when he hears one of us open the door to come get him, he'll stop crying and look over at us, as if he knows what's coming. I guess doing the same thing 5 times a day helps him catch on. he'll even stop crying and give us a smile. then he remembers how hungry he is and starts wailing again.

anyway, we're so thankful for how much of a delight he is. he's starting to interact with toys these days, drawing them close and chewing them and hugging them. too cute. he watches katie more and more, and he loves to cuddle when you hold him close. and he really seems to like the "super baby" game when I hold him high up in the air. I know it's probably not "manly" but I just love hugging him and kissing him. I could go on and on. and in fact I probably will as the days go on.

we had thanksgiving as well as a bit of early christmas with his grandparents this weekend (he scored some books, toys and clothes). lots of good times of getting some stuff done and relaxing and partaking in lots of yummy food. pictures here.

we're looking forward to christmas in NC in a few short weeks! michelle headed up the decorating of the living room, and it looks great (see pics at the link above). I love her creativity.

amy grant has already sung "TN christmas" and the tree is lit, so let the holidays begin!

t-day fishing

I cant recall many specific thanksgiving day memories from growing up, but we did have a few loose traditions that I can remember. I think we usually ended up at my grandparents house with my aunt and uncle and cousins. since we all lived in the same town, it wasnt really a festive reunion kind of gathering as it might be for families spread out more, but it was nice.

but before the usual family get-together, my dad and I had a bit of a thanksgiving day tradition of our own. relatively early in the morning we would head out to the beach with our surf rods and fish for the jacks and whatnot in the wash. usually by the end of november our favorite beach was quite blustery and cold (for south florida) and the usual dead-of-summer glass-like calm of the ocean was nowhere to be found. but there was usually a school of willing jacks, who would hit our rattle traps and spoons with gusto. they were relatively small, but catching two at a time was always fun.

one of the very few things I miss about florida is the ocean. it and its inhabitants were a source of endless fascination for me, and its beauty is unparalleled, even in the winter winds.

weird

our son is a little weird, but that's to be expected, as his parents are a bit odd too. to any parent that happens to read this, feel free to confirm or deny how weird this particular behaviour might be.

***caution: this is about baby poop and pee. if you dont care to read about such things, then you should probably move on***

Caleb prefers to poop with his diaper off. he's a once-a-day pooper, usually mid-morning, which is fine. we'll smell what we think is his daily gift, and take him over to change him, but it usually turns out to be a false alarm. probably some gas. but usually he's got enough pee to justify a changing anyway. so off with the diaper, and suddenly he's very happy. I think he likes to be naked, which I suppose he gets from me too. but pretty much as soon as the diaper is off, he'll start making like he's pushing out the poop, red face and all. of course this process takes a little while, so michelle is usually left standing there, holding up his legs to make it easier for him. why does he hold it until his butt is bare? will this make potty training easier? harder? who knows.

what a little weirdo. and we love every little bit of him.

bradley reunion

this weekend our old childbirth class got together for a little reunion. all 10 families were able to make it, and the babies ranged from 5 weeks old to 5 months old. after 12 weeks of classes together, we got to know most of the couples fairly well, so it was a lot of fun to see all the babies. having all of them lined up on the couch was downright hilarious. all the moms arranging, all the kids leaning on eachother, a few fussing and crying, all the flashbulbs popping like mad. so much cuteness in one place. here are some pictures of the adventures.

while we didnt end up with a "natural" childbirth, we're so glad to have learned what birth is all about and made some friends along the way. before we went this weekend we were praying that our attitudes wouldnt fall into prideful comparisons. it's so easy to be proud and judgemental, as well as fearing that we dont measure up in one way or another. so we were so glad to be able to just have a good time, swapping stories and admiring all the kids. hopefully we can all keep in touch one way or another.

giggle

there's nothing quite as cute as a cute kid giggling. really, I could watch it all day. Caleb just started laughing a little last week, and if he's in a good mood (which is more often than not), and we tickle him and do some cutesy-faced baby-talk, he'll reward us with some little squeals and laughs. we attempted to capture it with the digicam, and we got a little bit.

UPDATE: they are in mov format now, and a much smaller download:

giggle video 1

giggle video 2

marriage conference report

the Family Life "Weekend to Remember" marriage conference this weekend was quite overwhelming, in a good way. we really appreciated the empasis that they would say..."we cant fix your marriage, you cant fix your marriage...only Jesus can." there were volumes of information about God's purpose and plan for marriage, and communication and intimacy and parenting, etc. we're excited to be able to sift through it and dig into the parts of ourselves and our relationship that need it. we were quite exhausted - both physically and emotionally - after friday night, all day saturday, and all day sunday. one refreshing thing that the main speaker said late on sunday was that we should take a break to let our emotional muscles recover from such a workout. good advice, especially considering our tendency to roll up our sleves and try to fix everything at once right away.

I need to consult my notes (in the 250 page manual we came away with) to be more specific, but I took away some good lessons from all the lectures. like the need to lead us in prayer regularly. also I need to let Michelle know that I cherish her more through specific actions and planned events. basically, I've lost that loving feeling. while I serve her as I am able and take care of her needs, her heart needs to be spoken to in more romantic ways. so we're going to have a date night once a month. any baby-sitters out there? :-) also, I want to find a mentor who can help me through all this husband and daddy stuff. I just cant make it on my own. and I need to learn how better to share my feelings as we communicate. and we need to explore our roles more, and take them up as we ought to, especially as I'm a natural follower and she's a natural leader. this makes the whole headship thing a little tricky sometimes.

anyway, lots of lessons to be had. we just pray that God will apply those that He wants the most for our marriage. so in case you couldnt tell, we HIGHLY recommend this conference (there's lots of them around the nation). many thanks for your prayers for Michelle's health, and many thanks to our church for providing some of the funds to go.

we really missed Caleb during the weekend, but my mom did a great job taking care of him, and she even was our "cleaning fairy" as we would say...."hey, I think she dusted in here!" or "wow she did all that laundry too." not to mention all the latest baby stuff needs she got for us. we are well taken care of.

new routine

one of the chief disadvantages of working outside the home is being away from the family during the day. since caleb typically goes down at 7pm or so, I dont get a whole lot of time with him, except the 10pm feeding. so we've started a new morning routine that has lots of daddy time, and we're all loving it (as far as I can tell).

he wakes up around 5:30 or 6, famished from not eating since 10pm the night before. I will say it again: the fact that he can make it this long is a HUGE blessing. so I put a bottle on the fire and he makes quick work of it.

I dont know if all babies are like this, but he sure seems to be a morning person. after he's fed, he gets all chatty and happy. so we read a chapter from the Bible, maybe talk about it a little, sing some hymns together (he lights up whenever we sing to/with him), and have our morning prayers. usually by this time the dog figures out that we're up, so she comes in to request/demand that we let her out. meanwhile of course, mama is catching up on her sleep, and we're happy to let her.

we go check our email and the weather and news on the computer, but by this time he's getting a little tired of sitting up. so it's time to play under his play gym thingy, or maybe check out the mobile or the aquarium thingy from grandma, any of which will usually keep him happy for a while (where I take the opportunity to make my lunch). maybe mama will get up by now (or maybe not), when it's time to start breakfast and just about time for the first nap for caleb, which he takes without much protest at all now.

I really have no idea how long this routine will last (and it's only been going for a week now), as we've discovered that as soon as you think you've got something figured out, everything changes again. I love every morning I spend with him, and hope that we can keep it up (especially the reading/singing/praying part). I often find myself surprised at how much I love our little boy.

I dont know if you, dear reader, really care to read all this baby stuff, but in some ways the stuff I put here is for "the record." speaking of the record, I've added our old updates from our family website to the blog archives. threre's more about us than you probably should know.

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please pray for Michelle especially this weekend. she's been having a rough time with her health (hence the blog hiatus), and we're hoping to get the most out of this marriage conference. the good part is that we're pretty sure all the pain she's going through is an indication that her fibro medicine is doing its job (clearing out the bad stuff), but it's still really hard.

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oh yeah: happy 3rd month birthday to Caleb!

the new view

michelle loves fall. she loves getting out the sweaters and jeans. she loves sipping tea by the fireplace. she loves snuggling under the covers. and she loves the fall colors. but it seems like we get nice fall colors about as often as we get good snowfall around here...maybe once every 5 years or so.

but now that our tree has been chopped down, we get a nice view of the mountain. at sunrise, the colors are all lit up with a red glow, giving a few minutes of deep fall colors. so here's our new view:

I suspect this is about as good as it's going to get for us this year. the first time I woke up and saw these hues, I immediately called michelle over so we could enjoy it together. I think I prefer spring, but since she loves fall, so do I.

early christmas (almost)

I've never been a big fan of picking out your own presents, nor of getting them early, but this year we needed a new desk. so we convinced both sets of parents to chip in to get it for us for our Christmas present. michelle was pretty antsy to replace our crappy old (drawer-less) folding table that's served as our computer desk for years now. so we ordered it, and it came yesterday!

woohoo! early Christmas! but 3 of the main pieces were scratched or dented, so we couldnt put it together. after so much intial excitement, out came the pouty-lip, as we assembled only the drawers. oh well. at least the company is going to send replacement parts right away. if anyone needs a pretty nice desktop (but with a big gash on the front edge) for a worktable or something, it's all yours.

and speaking of Christmas, I am more excited about the holidays this year than I have been in a very long time. I'm sure it's because Caleb is here now, not that he really knows what's going on. but having our own little family makes everything that much more special.

caleb has been doing great lately. I am very (very) pleased to report that he's been consistantly sleeping about 8 hours each night. this is an amazing blessing, since we werent sure when this might happen. and when it's time for naps in the day, he fusses for only about 5 minutes before he's out. he's also been eating much better lately, although I think he'll always be skinny. not that every day is great, but overall he's doing quite well.

I know they say to put kids on their backs to sleep (to prevent SIDS), but since we dont have the other supposed risk-factors (smokers in the house, used mattress), we figured we'd try tummy-sleep, and it has made a huge difference.

anyway, he's getting big quite fast, and we're so thankful for such a happy baby. we're still in awe that he's actually our son. his grandma is coming to take care of him while we attend a marriage conference here in town. I'm sure we'll miss him a lot, but we're looking forward to dedicating some time and energy to strengthen our marriage. if you remember, please pray for us this weekend, that we'll learn more what love is, because "we love because He first loved us."

cyclops

this is the story of how I learned not to be vain, or at least not to care so much about my appearance. it starts way back before I was born, so bear with me.

I was born with only one functioning eye. nobody knew this until about I was 3 months old, when my mom noticed it didnt look quite right. even now, I dont think anyone knows exactly why it's this way. I remember hearing something vauge about it being underdeveloped, and my brain shutting it down, and there's a cataract to boot. and it's over-sensitive to light, so it's always squinting. weird, I know. and to top it all off, it's "lazy," meaning it (blindly) looks down and to the northeast. not that *I* notice this, since when I look in the mirror, my functioning eye is the one looking back at me.

anyway, when I was just a tyke, they took me to the specialist in NYC, and left praising the skies that I "only" had a blind eye. it's amazing what perspective you gain when most of the other patients in the waiting room have brain damage of some sort. so I grew up smashing the right side of my body into all manner of walls and corners. in fact I still run into a door frame now and then. and dont ask me to play baseball or catch a fly or go to a 3D movie.

I survived growing up one-eyed without too many scars, until I got to highschool. my parents had always told me that if I wanted to get the lazy eye corrected, that they would do what they could. but I never realized how I looked to everyone else, and for most of my years, I didnt care. obliviousness is sometimes the best policy.

but then I got a job at a rotisserie chicken place. and one fine day, a customer came in, and he (I think he was a he) had a lazy eye too. and I thought he looked kinda funny. I think it took the better part of the day for me to realize that *I* looked just like that guy! do people think I look funny too? ugh, the horrors of adolescence.

so I decided to take my parents up on their offer (mistake #1). so we went to the eye doctor, and he said he'd fix me up right. he even said he saw a slight abnormality in my good eye, and he'd fix that one too (mistake #2). basically what he did was pop my eyes out, snip off the muscles that point them in the right direction, and re-attatch them so they'd look forward correctly. remember that this was only to correct the laziness of my eye, and not to restore the sight. even if that was possible, I know I wouldnt want it.

the procedure went well and I came home with bloody eyes and a huge headache and an intense desire for darkness. a family friend brought me a get-well present, which involved lots of skittles, which I immediately downed (mistake #3). the problem is that I dont react well to anaesthesia. I basically throw up for a day or so afterward. so up came the skittles. and (this is a little gross) all the heaving caused tremendous pressure on my wounded eyeballs, so there was blood flowing from my throbbing eyes as I threw up. over and over. I think this is about the time I started to realize I made a mistake.

besides this initial fun, the recovery went pretty well. the lazy eye was corrected! my vanity was satisfied. but time passed, and old righty was determined to be lazy, and alas, 3 months later, he was back to where he started. this pretty much solidified the feeling that this was a mistake. thankfully (somehow) insurance covered the cost, so at least I didnt put my folks in the poor house.

so I started to embrace my one-eyed-ness. I signed all my drawings and doodles as "cyclops." I named my little business "cylcops web development" -- an eye for design. I try to disarm people's initial uncomfortableness with a little joke if I can. I humor little kids, who get confused as to which eye to address, by covering righty with my hand. and I do my best to not care so much about my outward appearance, because this is how God made me, and this is how I am. and apparently I was at least not ugly enough to scare away my wife, who loves me just as I am, and laughs with me at all my weirdnesses.

lessons that came at a bloody price.

endings

first of all, check out this entry from Michelle. a classic story. catacombs alums, pay close attention. Michelle's having a blast with the blog, and we're both loving it.

and now, some endings to some previous stories:

the big ol' tree that fell in our yard:
EPB finally came and cut down the other half that was threatening our neighbors and the general public. and they left (literally) tons of wood in our yard. but brush collection to the rescue! they helped themselves (with their front-end loader) to all the wood. our tax dollars at work. there's actually still a 6-foot "stump" left, and they came back to take it down, but for some reason I like it there, so I told them not to worry. hopefully we'll put some birdhouses on it. anyway, we're very thankful we didnt have to pay the $1000 to take the tree down. and now we have a great view of lookout mountain, just in time for fall.

the bald spot on the back of my head:
the good news -- the hair is growing in again! the bad news -- it's blond. weird. but I'm told that it's darkening. thankfully I dont really care how weird I look. someday soon I'll go into the story about how I really learned this painful lesson. it involves vanity, eye surgury and vomit. later.

our 5th anniversary:
this was August 28th, which was just about the hardest parenting day we had. so we didnt do much to celebrate. but I did make michelle a "mother's necklace." inspired by the "mother's ring" concept (a band with birthstones of each family member), I wanted to give her a necklace with each of our birthstones involved somehow. I knew that Katie does jewelry, so she sent me to a good beading website and gave me some advice on how to put it together. so I chose the jeweled beads and chain and tried to make it work. but I broke the chain trying to get the beads on, and besides, one of the beads was messed up and wouldnt go on, broken chain or not. but I found an old chain and made it work with 2 of the 3, and then very recently we got a different chain and finally convinced the 3rd bead to cooperate. here you can see the results, and we're all very pleased. thanks katie!

baby formula:
caleb's on soy still and doing quite well. but dang that stuff is expensive. always looking for a bargain, and never with too much pride, michelle asked our nurse if we could have a case of it, since we know they get literally truckloads of the stuff to give away (to get as many kids as possible hooked on it of course). and the nurse said something like: sure, we'll keep you supplied, we'll even CALL YOU when we get a shipment. wow! it sure seems like she intends to keep us well-supplied, which is a huge blessing.

ending pending:
we were hoping to refinance our house to take advantage of lower rates, but it's not working out. very frustrating. we're praying that it will work out somehow, b/c if it does we could save quite a bit per month.

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these are all not-so-huge things in our little lives, but God has chosen to bless us in all of them. when the crappy days come (and they do), His faithfulness in even the little things lifts us up.

weather

it is november. I am wearing my chacos. the A/C is on. this is NOT florida. ugh.

my hopes for a decent snowfall this winter have already taken a hit.