rejoice!

Alice slept from 10:30pm to 7am last night. hooray!!! hopefully this is the start of a trend. thanks to all who have been praying for us.

and another little milestone in the morning: when laid in her crib to admire her mobile, and then somewhat forgotten as other morning duties were tended to, she fell asleep on her own. I know this is completely normal for lots of kids, but our kids have never fallen asleep on their own like that.

and now the bad news: mama is still hurting and quite exhausted, despite the fact that the baby slept like a baby (an ironic, if not cruel, phrase, by the way). so I'm working from home today, and everyone is asleep at the moment.

my haircut

bedtime now. more words later.

later: in case you missed it earlier, this haircut was a bit of an accident. I was cutting it down to my usual length when the guard popped off and mowed a patch clean. oh well. it reminds me of the college days when we'd make cool designs in my hair when it was haircut time. I'd always shave it all off in a few days (before church), but it was fun to be able to be stupid like that. some favorites were the checkerboard, the hand, the 2 hands (mirror images), the bass cleff symbol, and the best one: the MMW logo. dave was quite a hair artist after that year.

weekend report

we had a pretty full weekend together. we got the sandbox filled, and Caleb took right to it. Alice just looked and smiled, deciding not to play in the sand. her turn will come soon enough I'm sure. so thanks Grandma and Grandpa! we cant wait until it's consistently warm out so we can play outside more. it's a lot of fun to run around with Caleb, so hopefully soon. in case you need to know, 5 bags for an average sandbox is plenty. 10 bags is a bit much. so if anyone needs any play sand you're welcome to it.

we also took part in the planning session for the new playground. we're so very excited about having a nice playground within walking distance. it will surely take a lot of effort to get it done, but with Josiah at (or near) the helm, I'm sure it will come to pass. he's nothing if not tenacious. the meeting was a lot of fun, as they rolled out paper so the kids could draw out their ideas. Caleb took quite a while to acclimate to the hustle and bustle, preferring to sit and watch for a while. but when he finally got down from his chair, things were wrapping up. he just wanted to collect the markers anyway, which was actually quite helpful. Alice left her mark by spitting up on the floor. oh well.

that very same evening we went to dinner at a friends house. hooray for single friends who are brave enough to cook dinner for a bunch of friends and invite the little kids too. Caleb had a good time chasing the cats around and getting into everything on the coffee table (lit candles at toddler height are seldom a good idea), and I got to chase him around trying to shove food in his mouth. but the dinner was excellent and it's always good to see old friends, even if I'm chasing a kid or two the whole time. life has changed rather quickly for us, it seems.

the kids were more than a little snotty on Sunday morning, so mama and I took turns going to church. it was a little weird to sit there alone, and almost distractingly quiet, but at the same time it's very nice to be able to engage in worship more.

we also said goodbye to the winter olympics, which we've enjoyed on-and-off the past couple weeks. there's a lot of lamenting over ratings and lack of winning on the sports articles I've read. but I tend to not get concerned over who wins. having never skied or ice skated or snowboarded, just watching these folks do cool stuff is a lot of fun. plus it seems that a lot of the USA athletes are big jerks anyway. so farewell to speed skating and the super g and other things I dont see otherwise for another 4 years. perhaps next time the kids will be into watching.

one of the latest tricks from Caleb is putting two words together. last week he said "byebye daddy" was I was leaving, and this morning it was "more egg." very cool. and my latest trick was accidentally shaving my head this weekend. I was trimming it down to 1/4" when the guard popped off and mowed a nice swath clean. so of course we had to take it all off. I'm told it looks OK, but it's certainly a bit more chilly. yet another reason to pine for warmer weather.

and finally, I've added a few recent pictures to the family site. enjoy.

welcome, Phin

congrats to the Perkins on the birth of their latest son, Phineas Cobb Perkins. check out the details here. thanks be to God for answering many prayers for Lynn's health especially. and while we're on the subject of the Perkins, I'm a little sad that they're moving very far away for Andy's new job, but I'm very excited for them too. Andy was my first college roommate, and we certainly had good times together. it's been good to keep in touch while they've been in ATL. thankfully Lynn's fam is just around the corner, and of course we'll keep up via blogland. maybe someday we'll make a trip out west? anyway, hooray for Phineas and the fam.

tired

we are very tired right now at our house. Michelle's fibro is back on the scene, after about a year break due to pregnancy and nursing. so it's been hard to readjust to her not having much strength or energy to do much besides the essentials, and the "why us?" bitterness that goes with it. we really wish Alice would sleep through, but we know we shouldnt expect that from at 3 month old. sometimes I'll take the middle-of-the-night feeding, and that makes for a sleepy day afterward, leading to less patience with it all, etc. and what was that about a prayer life? oh yeah.

some days are better than others of course, but I think part of it is adjusting to the tiny baby phase again, and how needy that cute little creature is all of the time. not that she's got any problems really (besides the annoyance of spitting up a lot), but I think I forgot how much time it takes to look after a baby (and I'm not the one there all day). so I get frustrated that there isnt much time or energy left to spend with Michelle or do other little things that I enjoy, much less keep up with the dishes and paying the bills. when this is added to mama feeling down-and-out, it starts to get overwhelming. I've consumed way too much chocolate to help me cope a bit. good thing I'm too cheap to hit the strong beverages very hard.

I find myself longing for the day when the baby will sleep for 12 hours, and I'm pretty sure that day will come soon enough. but now I realize I need to take up what we've been given now, and not sit around and whine about it. this tired and bitter heart needs to be changed, and it needs to be changed every day. sleep would help too.

so please pray for us. I realize now that these struggles are pretty much from the huge blessings in our life (namely Caleb and Alice), and I need to remember that. pray that we'll be faithful, and pray for Michelle's health especially.

happy bday mama!

happy birthday (yesterday) to Michelle, the bestest wife and mama around. we all love her so much. we had a good weekend together as a family and we got to go out to celebrate together on Friday. a bunch of us got her a cool MP3 player for her bday (a sandisk sansa -- cheaper better than an iPod shuffle!), and the kids made handprints that I framed for her.

and happy 18 months to Caleb (2 days ago). he's growing up so fast!

and now for various snippets from the kids:

Caleb constantly cracks us up, and we're often fascinated at the things that he does. we were both laughing quite hard the other day when he decided to put his blanky over his head and run around the house. he's actually pretty good at this trick, as you can tell he's looking at the floor to see where he is. of course we dont let him get into too much trouble, but we cant help but laugh when he runs into the couch near full speed.

speaking of his blanky, he's still obsessed with tag on it. he'll turn it over and over until he finds it and then exclaims his happiness when it's found. then hill hold it close to his face while he sucks his thumb. super cute.

he's turning into quite the organizer. he likes to line up his blocks or put them all in his changing table. but the best is the cards that he calls "mail." they're paper sample card from a paper company, and they used to be in a little book together. now they're all loose, and he likes to sort and organize them, making sure that they're all lined up properly. if it's the wrong time of day he'll throw a fit if he cant get it quite right, but usually he'll happily do this for quite a while. and when he's concentrating like that, he tends to hold his breath. (this is something mama also does, but she didnt realize it until we saw him do it.) he's certainly good at thinking things through.

he's been picking up a few more words, but I think it might be time to teach him more signs, as he's been more frustrated lately. but he does pretty well with the words he's got, although I'm sure we're the only ones who can tell what most of them are. the funny thing is how he says "please" for something. his word for "more" is "muh" and "more please" is "muh muh" in a sing-song tone. likewise "snack" is "nah" and "snack please" is "nah nah." thus far we need to remind him to say please pretty much every time, but he'll do it when we ask. he seems to be getting better at not whining for something by default, but it does feel like we're constantly telling him "no whining please." a lot of it depends on if he's feeling sick or tired.

I'm constantly impressed at how quickly he picks up on things. we were looking at a magazine or something and I pointed out the boys and the girls. then a little later I asked him to point to a boy in a different picture and he got it right every time. same with the girls. for all I know this is completely normal, but I thought it was pretty cool. I've been trying to teach him colors lately, but pretty casually. this morning he had a stack of legos of different colors and I asked him to point to blue, red, green, yellow, and he got them mostly right. could have been luck, but probably not. crazy.

he's been enjoying playing with the dog more and more, and she likes it too. he really loves her, and it's nice to see her willing to interact more. I'm pretty sure she's the reason he's SO into animals. some kids like cars or balls or blocks. our kid is really into animals. he loves all his stuffed animals, and he loves pointing them out in his books and such and making noises for dog, cat, sheep, duck, monkey, fish, elephant, bee, bird, lion, pig, etc. some are better than others (dog, sheep and duck being favorites).

and let's not forget little Alice. she's smiling and cooing more and more, and she positively lights up when we turn on the mobile for her. she also enjoys the play gym and bouncy seat whenever she gets a chance. usually she'll only need 1 bottle in the middle of the night, but sometimes she's pretty gassy, so that wakes her up and makes for a long night for all. but it's nice to have her on a 3 hour routine during the day. she's pretty good at spitting up when she takes a bottle, but if you're expecting it, it's not hard to handle. we look forward to when she can sleep longer, but we're realizing that time is flying faster with her than it did with Caleb. it's a lot of fun to have her all tiny and snuggly, but I cant wait until she can run around and have fun with her big brother. and oh yeah, she's got the cutest bunny slippers ever.

the kids

here's the kids enjoying some time together. Alice is smiling and cooing more and more, and she'll even give a giggle now and then. Caleb is always very interested in her, so he really enjoyed it when we put her down in the play gym.

on the bottle

despite our hopes and efforts, baby Alice is now on formula fulltime, and we're confident that this is what is best for everyone. thanks to all for your prayers and concern for all of our health.

just as it was with Caleb, the double-whammy of no weight gain and the thrush made us decide to stop nursing. of course this was a very hard decision for mama especially, who really loved feeding her and could tell that Alice was a big fan too. but we're wondering if she wasnt gaining b/c of mama's health issues, as she was always willing to eat well, unlike Caleb who wasnt interested. add to that the almost constant pain that mama was in, and the fact that the thrush was returning in Alice too (despite lots of meds and other remedies we've tried), and it make a hard decision not-so-hard any more.

so we're a little sad, but I'm sure it will turn out for the best. after all, Caleb was on the bottle after having similar issues, and now he's the smartest and cutest boy around ;-) thankfully, Alice eats rather well from the bottle (also unlike her brother), and has taken quite a bit this past week, so we're pretty sure she'll be growing fast soon. and hooray for Sam's brand formula, which is the same stuff as the name brand but DANG cheap. of course one advantage of the bottle is that I get to help feed her, and she seems to be sleeping longer at night too, which is good for everyone.

Alice's baptism

yesterday Alice was baptised by Grandpa Thomas. Grandpa was recently ordained in our denomination (PCA), so we were very excited for him to be able to baptise our daughter. it was also special that Alice was wearing a gown made from Grandma Thomas's wedding dress. more pictures here (some of them arent so great but I havent had time to find the best ones yet).

it was all a bit of a whirlwind, as it was a little stressful getting everyone successfully out of the house. Caleb is almost never in the church service with us (something we'll probably start sometime this year), so he was a little bit antsy. and to top it off, Alice filled her diaper and spit up right before we went up to the front. mama successfully kept her from crying too much while we were up front, but she wailed a bit once she was handed over for the actual baptism.

but of course it was a very good thing to receive God's promises and take vows to Him and Alice. since it was a little crazy while it was going on, I'm putting a copy of the vows here for the record, and for our reference.

1. Do you believe in one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and do you confess Jesus Christ, God’s Son as Lord and Savior?

2. Do you acknowledge that although our children are conceived and born sinners, and therefore subject to the miseries of the fall, yet Christ calls them holy because of their relation to you as members of His church?

3. Do you believe God’s covenant promise to be your God and the God of your children and thus present your child for holy baptism as the sign and seal of his/her reception into the covenant family of God?

4. Do you promise, with the help of God, to bring up your child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to pray for him/her and with him/her and to make every effort so to order your own lives that you will not cause this little one to stumble?

5. Have you so kept the vow you made before God with your previous child that you can take this vow with a sincere and clear conscience?

6. Do you promise to encourage him/her as soon as he/she is able to comprehend its significance, to confess his/her own faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and become an active member of Christ’s Church, serving faithfully in her fellowship?

7. (To the congregation, from Pastor Cal) – Do you receive Alice as an infant member of this church; do you promise to surround him/her with Christian love and to pray for him/her; do you promise to set before him/her such an example of Christian love and virtue that he/she will early in life know the reality of personal salvation and rich fellowship in the Kingdom of God? If you can so answer from your hearts please answer “amen”.

8. What name has been given this child? (Alice Florence Wiegers)

9. Alice Florence Wiegers, child of the covenant, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

HSA - we're cutting edge!

the day after the prez talked up Healthcare Savings Accounts ("We will strengthen Health Savings Accounts – by making sure individuals and small business employees can buy insurance with the same advantages that people working for big businesses now get"), we started our very own HSA here at work. one of the many great things about working here is that the guys put a premium on good health coverage (pun only somewhat intended) and I dont pay anything monthly for it.

but of course traditional high-end coverage is getting dang expensive these days, especially considering all the kids we've all been cranking out. so the HSA thing seems like a good idea, and with the good folks at Huffaker on our side, it's hard to go wrong. at the very least, it'll save the company a ton of money, which is good for everyone. if you dont know much about HSAs, there's a pretty good rundown here.

the coolest part of the HSA for us right now is that we can use it to pay bills from previous medical stuff. we can use it for pretty much anything somewhat medical, which is cool, but the down side is that not everything counts toward the deductable for the high-deductable backup account. so the trick is using it toward stuff that counts toward the deductable, or otherwise hoping for the best down the road if we use it for other stuff.

so we'll see how this goes for us. ideally, it will be a big score, as we now have an asset that's in our name to use as we see fit. hopefully we wont have to use it much at all, being relatively young. but as a whole, we're not relatively healthy, as the wife has fibromyalgia, so I'm a little nervous about how it will all work out. if we can hold off having another baby or getting in a car wreck for a while, we'll hopefully have our account built up for whatever we need.