The Christmas Tree Chronicles: Part I

Well, we did it.

We got a tree. We forked over the $35 and brought home our very first o tannenbaum. I wish we had a great story about how we went up to the farm and brought an ax and rode a horse-drawn carriage out to select and cut down our very first tree amidst the downy flakes drifting steadily, yet not at all severely lest the foul mood, the one that always seems to result when the precipitation exceeds one's preconceived notions of what may acceptably descend from the heavens, befall us all.





But what really happened is we went to the Houston Garden Center that is about 5 minutes away from our house. And it was about 70 degrees. Not exactly something to write a song about, but I was still excited and took an inordinate amount of pictures.

Offical Tree Inspector (OTI) and his assistant, Daddy.


Family Blue Eyes: A Self-Portrait


This is the one!


Jorge the Tree Guy brings it up to the front for us.


Arriving back home with our tree. Jude was thrilled.


Unfortunately, we have no pictures of Kris having to break out the saw to whittle down the bottom of the tree so that it would fit in out tree stand. The tree is now about 6 inches shorter than it was when we picked it out. We made it work.

Much more to post...let's just say it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

This Could Be The Year

Remember this?

And this?

This streak may come to an end. I can't say for sure, but I am mentally closer to putting up a tree than I have ever been before.

I've talked about this before here, but Christmas, as in the season, is not something we make a huge deal about. We are Christians and we believe that each Sunday, when we gather with the Church, we celebrate the coming of Christ, his death and resurrection, and his imminent return. So the balance between participating in
the season, yet keeping proper focus is one that we will strive to acheive.

That being said, I am very into family traditions and I want to have many things throughout the year that our boys, and any other children the Lord gives us, can look forward to. And I'm thinking decorating a tree might just need to be one of those traditions.

And, obviously, I don't think there is anything wrong about paying special attention to the incarnation around this time of year so we may incorporate the Jesse Tree into our regular tree as well.

So watch for my first official "here's our Christmas tree!" post. It may or may not be coming soon.

Does this answer your question, Robin?

I know, I know. We said never again.

But I think enough time has passed that we have almost forgotten how much we all hated blogging after last year's DBC.

So please join me in a slightly modified DBC '08. Beginning Monday, December 8, blog each day for two weeks and make the title of your post either a title or a line from a Christmas song. We will wrap it up on Monday, December 22.

Feel free to leave a comment to let us know that you are joining in this little holiday tradition.

Thankful

I am thankful for...

Obviously--these guys.



A little less obviously--

The laundry...because it means there were little bodies that were here to wear it.

The crack in my windshield...because I have a windshield, on a car, that works, to be cracked.

The extra baby weight...because it reminds me that God remembered me.

The economic crisis...because it shatters the illusion that security can come from what we have in the bank.

The 5:00 news...because it reminds me to watch and pray. Christ is coming again and all the wrongs will be made right.

The 5:45 am feeding...because a quiet moment with a content baby is a sermon in itself.

Elmo..because he makes getting ready in the morning possible.

The Last Few Days (A Pictorial Review)

I turned 29.




Jude started rice cereal.



This crazy guy got put back in a baby bed. And now we are ALL sleeping better. Let's hear it for baby jail!



Kris and his sous chef whipped up something tasty.

And there you have it.

How would you know?

This is an incredible article that expresses a question that has rolled around in my mind for some time now. Read it if you get a few minutes.

(HT: Making Home)

This Heart-Warming Moment Brought To You By Eggo

My conversation with Asher this morning...

Me: I love you, Asher!

Asher: I love waffles.


Fair enough.

I never win anything!

Saying this is the secret to winning a prize, or so we were told by the man sitting next to us on our wine cruise around Lake Tahoe when we were there on our honeymoon.

And as it is our custom to take unsolicited advice from strange men on wine-tasting cruises, I gave it a try. And guess what!

We now have the famous "Kris after he just won a bottle of wine!" photo.

It has been over three years since that momentous occasion and I have yet to win anything since. So I think I get another turn at saying it, as i am currently trying to win two things. The first one is a trip to San Antonio--I NEED to go ride that Supeman roller coaster at Fiesta Texas because it is my very favorite one ever.

The second thing I hope to win is an adorable reusable bag that Simple Mom is giving away.

I'm not that into being green but I am very into being cute.

You should go check them out and enter to win yourself. I'll even be happy for you if you win and I don't. Or at least I'll try.

Oh, brother!

I walked into the living room this morning to find this scene. Had I been a few seconds later, Asher would have attempted to complete his mission of actually picking Jude up. He pulled him by the legs off of his playmat and was trying to figure out how to stand up with a baby on his lap.



Jude was just going with it. He had a full tummy, a dry diaper, and his thumb, so whatever.



They love each other already. Jude grins at Asher and Asher is always looking out for his brother--albeit in a very 21 month old way. But he tries. This morning he heard Jude crying and ran in to his room saying, "ok, baby! ok baby!"

I am an incredibly blessed 29 year old :)

Addie's Mama

This is what Asher was calling tonight, as he does every night, after I put him in bed. He calls out, "Mama! Mama! Addie's Mama!"

He refers to himself as Addie. And he makes it clear exactly which mama should come rescue him from the dreaded "big boy night-night." Good thing he specifies, because no telling who might respond without that qualifier. But I love it, of course. And I, in turn, have taken to calling him "Mama's Asher."

The poor boy is still sleeping on his floor. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I doubt he will have to explain to his wife why he lies against the closed bedroom door peering underneath it.

At least I hope not.

At least life's not boring... ***UPDATE***

As of 8:27 am, there have been no signs of food poisoning. Thank you, Lord that Asher is not sick and that I did not have to clean up vomit twice in one week.

The past few days have been quite interesting around our house for a number of reasons. I won't go into too much detail about some of the things, but suffice it to say, we have all had or are having our turn with a lovely stomach bug. I'll leave it at that.

Another fun thing that happended is that our house almost exploded. Literally. Yep.

Kris goes to church early to practice with the other musicians so the boys and I go in a little later than he does. We left the house about 9:45 (church starts at 10--we were running later--Jude wore his pj's to church. The beauty of being an infant.) Anyway, we went and ate lunch after church and got home about 1:30. I walked in the house first and smelled natural gas. I looked at the oven and one of the knobs was turned on. I ran over and turned it off. Kris was right behind me so we grabbed the boys and walked outside. Asher knows better than to touch the stove, but when I am not within a few feet of him, he takes the opportunity to explore. He is getting better, but discipline is definitely a process with him.

I held Jude and pushed Asher around our street in his little car while Kris went through the house opening doors and windows. The smell dissapated fairly quickly after that so we went back in.

The amazing part is that we have a fireplace with gas logs--which has a pilot light that stays lit. The pilot light and logs are behind glass, but still! God was very merciful to us. We did not some home to a house blown to smithereens.

And now all the knobs are in a drawer and we put them on when we need them.

You would think that would be enough for one day. But I'm learning that life with an active, curious 21 month old never really slows down.

I cleaned out the refrigerator last night and threw away a bunch of old stuff. I took out a Gladware container that had some leftover rotesserie chicken in it. Everything else got dealt with last night, but I missed that container and it was still sitting on the counter this morning. I was cleaning up the kitchen and I moved the container to the counter next to the sink. Then I walked back to our room to get something and as I was walking back to the kitchen, I heard Asher getting into something.

I walked in and saw him with the bowl of old chicken that had sat out ALL NIGHT in his hands. He had taken a bite by the time I got to him and swallowed it. I took the bowl away as he is pleading for more "chicka chicka chicka" as he calls it.

I called the doctor who said wait it out. If it's salmonella, he will begin throwing up in anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Great.

I washed his hands thoroughly and put a little extra probiotic powder in his milk, hoping the good bacteria will attack the bad. We'll see.

So that catches you up. Viruses, near explosions, food poisoning. But the day is young. Everyone is napping now (obviously) so I look forward to what the rest of the day holds.

With those Rives boys, no telling!

Our Homeboy

There is a nice little blog post about Martin Luther on the Desiring God blog in honor of his birthday, which is today.

He had his faults and a few theological blindspots, as we all do, but God used Luther powerfully to awaken the Church and continue His faithful process of her renewal and restoration.

Hey...Jude is 3 months old now!

Check out that hairdo! It is getting lighter and fluffier. Sounds like a pastry.

Jude--or Judah or Judah Barracuda or Judah Bear or Brother or Ba-ba (if you're Asher and you still will not say his name but insist on calling him your version of the word "baby") is such a doll! Fussing is so rare these days which is so nice. He weighs about 16 pounds and is eating and sleeping great. He smiles and coos and sucks on his fists and fingers. He tenses up a little around Asher because there have been one or two incidents where big brother may have slightly manhandled him, but once he sees that Asher is being gentle, he gives him a big smile. Those boys :)

As Promised...Pumpkin Edition

Here is a recap of the events of the last few weeks. If you would like to see all the pictures (by that I mean, if your name is Mamaw) then you can go to our Shutterfly site.

We went to the Pumpkin Patch a while back. We got some really good pictures. Although I'm not sure how pictures of cute kids sitting on pumpkins could really ever go wrong.













A few days later, we went back to the pumpkin patch for a little festival they were having. What follows is an incredibly sweet candy corn and an overly happy mummy.




Little brother, as usual, just along for the ride.

As Promised...A Sling and 3 Month Pics

This is Jude's favorite new position. He loves the "kangaroo" carry in the sling. He's not really a "hang out in the carseat" kind of guy. He wants to be unbuckled and part of the action. Another piece of the Jude puzzle figured out!

Here are the 3 month pics...he's gettin' big!




He is a smiley little guy but it is hard to capture those smiles when your camera likes to take its sweet time.


Here are a few more of him from the past few weeks...

As Promised...A Monkey, Electrical Tape, and Inflatables

For Halloween/Reformation Day, we got all dressed up! My little monkey was, well...a little monkey. Although I'm afraid those ears say "mouse." But I tried. He pulled the look off despite his mother's less-than-stellar sewing skills because he does a very convincing monkey noise. Really. Get him to do it for you next time you see him.

Kris playing that party favorite "Pin the Tail on the Monkey"


"Ooh ooh, ee, ee, aah, aah!"



Jude is not one to miss out on festivites so he and I did a themed costume. He was a bumble bee and I was his flower.



A little felt and electrical tape can turn even the most boring Baby Bjorn into a fabulous bee costume.



The next day was cousin Reagan's birthday. She had it at an indoor play area full of super fun inflatables. There were things to bounce in and slide on! Oh the fun that was had by my boy!



Asher enjoyed it, too.

As Promised...Deer and Vomit

This is the only picture I have from this day. We went to Kendall's birthday party at Old MacDonald's farm. It is a great place to take kids. It is a playground and petting zoo all in one. Deer roam freely and all the animals are in pens that you can walk right up to to feed or pet them.

But as it turns out, Asher is not really into woodland creatures. As I was showing Asher how to hold his hand out and feed the sheep the food that they let you feed them, Asher got very freaked out. About this time, two deer who have no fear of people wander up to see what's for snack time today. Asher completely loses it when he sees the first deer and turns to run away and runs right into the other deer. He just falls to the ground and waits for me to come rescue him. I have Jude in the sling so I throw the rest of the food down and heroically save my little boy from the perilous deer.

Then, he is standing at a fenced-off pond, but accidentally steps too close to the fence and gets one leg stuck in the water. Of course, I am feeding Jude at this point so I run over with the bottle tucked under my chin to pull Asher out. So now the poor boy has a wet foot for the rest of the morning.

Then we went and played in the sand and rode the train and all was right in his world again. I definitely want to bring him back there but we will wait until Daddy can come with us.

We got home and I was feeding Asher lunch. He started to gag a little because he tried to swallow a piece of his sandwich without bothering to chew it up. So he is choking and trying to get the food out of his throat and I am kneeling in front of him. I can see he is breathing, but is still struggling to get the food out of his throat. That's when the gag reflex kicks in and he throws up ALL OVER ME!

It was a busy day, needless to say. But after a bath, a load of laundry, and a nap, he was as good as new and I earned a new badge for my mama sash.

More Free Derek Webb

Also, here the guidelines I would set forth if I am put in charge of the next election...

1. Each candidate is allowed to publish one position paper detailing (1)his philosophy of government, (2) his stance on the major issues,(3) his goals for the first 6 months, first year, and his term as a whole, and (4) the means he will use to assess whether or not his goals were met. It wil be published in English, by the way.

2. There will be no commercials, yard signs, bumper stickers, hour-long infomercials, or the like. Voters will read the aforementioned position papers, decide which one resonates with their particular goals and ideals, and vote accordingly.

3. The candidates will not be allowed to tell the voters what another candidate did or didn't do, said or didn't say, agrees with or doesn't agree with. The candidates will not say to themselves, "What do most people want? OK, then that's what I'll be." They will first ask, "What am I? Do most people want this?"

This is just what I have right now. I'll keep a little running list so that I'll be prepared when the election officials ask my opinion. I'm sure that will happen.

Major Catching-Upage Soon

I have so much to blog about yet so many other things that rank slightly above blogging in importance to do.

So here is a little preview just to make sure you don't abandon reading my blog altogether to teach me a lesson about being so terribly inconsistant.

The posts to come will contain (in no particular order):

a monkey
giant inflatables
deer
electrical tape
vomit
a certain somebody's 3 month pictures
a sling
exciting news!!! (and NO--I'm not.)

So come back, OK?