One Year Ago...

The best year of my life began.  

Happy Birthday, sweet Riggins Thomas.  

Birthday Girl

On Sunday, Weber Sue turned THREE years old!  

Now, I usually think it is ridiculous when people go over the top in celebration for their dogs.  Heck, I even have a hard time seeing dogs wearing clothes!  But while the idea of a cake made out of canned dog food absolutely disgusts me, I recently came across a recipe for a dog-friendly baked cake.  

And I decided that it was time for our Puppa to have a cake of her very own!  

Voila.  

Peanut Butter Delight Cake with Honey Cream Cheese icing, garnished with bacon and Milk Bones.  Served on a pewter cake stand fit for a princess, of course.  We even lit a candle and sang Happy Birthday.  Go big or go home, right?  :)

It was well received, for sure, although it took her a bit to get the hang of eating it.  One of the girl's quirks is that she gets intimidated by things that she has to bite into.  So he started by licking off all of the icing.  Then she sat and stared at the bare cake for a bit before I got out a fork and hacked it up into pieces for her. The party really started then!   

Riggins was just dying for a bite!  Little does he know that later this week 

he will get a cake of his very own!  

That's right!  Both of my babies have birthdays this week.  

Everyone is growing up on me.

Sniff!  Tear!  SOB! 

I Serve a Risen Savior

We are joyful today.  

Not because of fancy clothes, a special meal, or a treat-filled basket.   

Not because of tulips, bunnies, eggs, or a seersucker suit.   

But because Christ has died.  Christ has risen.  And Christ will come again.  

In the midst of this broken world, my sinful heart finds hope, joy, and peace because of this truth.   

You can too, if you look to Jesus Christ and follow him.  

Blessings to you and yours this Easter!  

Creeper

This is a public service announcement.

Have you seen this man?  

I noticed him creeping around my house today and was very disturbed.  

Even little Riggins knew there was something weird about this guy.  

  

Consider yourself warned.  

Alternative titles to this post: 

"Jonathan Gets a Makeover.  Give Him Your Feedback"

"Ask Dr. Poe: Choosing the Right Glasses for You"

"Jonathan Turns 53!"

"The Do's and Don'ts of Facial Hair"

{Rest assured that the 'stache has been shaved and that he does not own the glasses.  They were donated for his upcoming trip to Guatemala.  Let's hope thick, round glasses are all the rage in Central America!}

Spoiled Rotten

On Tuesday night, Memphis was hit with a pretty awesome thunderstorm that knocked out power in several big chunks of the city.  After leaving for school at around 7:15 on Wednesday morning, Jonathan walked right back in at 7:30 with the announcement that the optometry school had lost power.  We did a little victory dance before I realized that Riggins and I were heading out the door for BSF followed by lunch with a friend and wouldn't be able to enjoy join him for his morning off.

"Well, why don't you just leave him here with me?  That way you can enjoy an uninterrupted lunch too?"

Ummmm....let me think for two seconds...

You got it, dude!

Shortly thereafter, I realized that I was completely ready to leave the house, but now that I didn't have a baby to get ready, I was running a good 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

"Well, why don't you just leave early and go get coffee?  You could even sit and read for a bit if you wanted to!"

Again...hmmm....what's a mom to do?

Yes, please!

So off I went, early to Bible Study for the first time since, well, ever, AND on my way to get coffee!  I never get coffee before BSF because (1) I am usually running late, and (2) I am not coordinated enough to carry one baby, two tote bags, and a steaming hot cup of java through the very big parking lot, into the church, down to the children's area, and up to the sanctuary without making a mess of us all.  Seriously, the one time I tried I spilled coffee all over my favorite little tote with Riggins' name on it!

The morning was glorious, and being able to enjoy lunch with my friend Leslie without having to tear up bits of cheese, pick puffs up off of the floor, or keep a juice box from erupting into Old Faithful all over my child was simply divine.  I don't care how well behaved your child is, attempting to fully focus on a conversation with a kiddo in tow is HARD.  I even got to run a few errands afterward without getting a baby in and out of a car seat each time!  I had all but forgotten the ease and speed with which you can run multiple short errands when you don't have to worry about the whole car seat thing.

I returned home refreshed, energized, and oh-so-thankful for my husband.  He approaches parenting as a true partnership, and is genuinely enthusiastic about spending one-on-one time with our son.  While I hem and haw over "Are you sure you don't mind?" or "Isn't there anything you would rather do with your morning off?"  He looks at me like I'm crazy and simply says, "Les, it's Man Time.  Get out of here!"

He realizes that his schedule will not always allow for spontaneous days spent alone with his children.  Soon enough, optometry school will be over, his days will be more structured, and his time with our kids will be less flexible.  So he is embracing this season while he can, and Riggins and I are both blessed as a result.

So thank you, Memphis Light, Gas, and Water, for being incredibly slow to restore power at Southern College of Optometry (he was off again today...hoorah!).  And thank you, Jonathan, for being such a wonderful team mate in this journey of marriage and parenting.  I am spoiled (but hopefully not rotten!).

Sweet Spring

I used to say that Autumn was my favorite season, but three years of living in Memphis have made me fall in love with Spring.  You just haven't lived until you've seen Sam Cooper draped in wisteria, Rhodes  College in bloom, yards on fire with forsythia, and my own breathtaking dogwood.  

This year we were blessed with an extra-long blooming time on the dogwood--just over two weeks!--that overlapped with the blooming of our white azaleas.  This hasn't happened since we've lived here.  Typically the dogwood poops out just before the azaleas burst forth.  It was an extra gift of Spring to have our whole yard snowy white with blooms!  (This picture just doesn't do it justice!)

Of course, we haven't wasted any time in teaching Riggins an essential skill of boyhood: climbing trees.  What says "spring" more than a sweet little gingham-clad boy in a blooming dogwood tree?  

We have taken advantage of the gorgeous weather and are spending tons of time outdoors.  Riggins has been practicing his walking skills with his new push toy in the back yard.  

He pauses every so often to give a little gun show.  :)  

 The beach is that way, ladies....

Pressure

I've been feeling a little pressure lately.  I wonder if you can relate.  

The life of a mom is a funny mix of caring for your child, caring for your spouse, caring for your home, and caring for whatever other responsibilities are on your plate.  In doing all of this, I often find myself fluctuating between two extremes.

On one hand, I feel this pressure to be Super Educator Mom.  When Riggins is awake, he should have my undivided attention and our time should be filled with me intentionally teaching him how to point to his body parts, speak fluent baby sign-language, make all of his animal noises, and distinguish the difference between Beethoven and Rachmaninoff.  

On the other hand, I am a big believer in assimilating a child into the everyday life of the home.  I should be active when Riggins is active, going about our daily errands and my daily chores, talking him through these activities, and trusting that he'll learn all he needs to know as we go.  This is what most of my days end up looking like.  And yet I often feel as though--with the exception of meal times and nap times--our days are not structured enough.  Now that we are entering the toddler phase, I feel like I need to be more intentional in the way I use his awake time.  

If I live in "Super Educator Mom" mode, nothing else will ever get done and my child will think that God's Green Earth revolves around him.  But if I live at the other extreme, I end up with a completed to-do list but a child who might be missing out on more intentional opportunities for learning.  

So, dear reader, I bring my questions to the table:

1) Am I psychotic for even thinking/worrying about this at all?  Does anyone else out there worry about these kinds of things?  I hereby give you permission to tell me to take a chill pill.  (But really, that's kind of my problem...I'm worried that I'm too chill!)  

2) Where do you fall on the spectrum between these two approaches?

3) How have you found a balance between the two? (Because I'm assuming that, as with most things in life, the answer lies in balance.)

4) Where can I order that manual called How to Be a Mother?  I think I left mine at the hospital....