cassidy faith

PROUDEST PAPA IN TOWN
(the big cheeser)

she came at last, with a little help from the doctor and a lot of help from gravity. we went in around 7:30am after the beautiful snow fall and got things rolling. at first i was concerned we'd have another wyatt delivery because no sooner had the contractions started then the nurses ran in and made me roll to my side. ugh, those little heartbeats are so sensitive. it turns out she just wanted me to lay on my side and not my back. i moved from the rocker to standing to laying over the back of the bed. and that's when it happened. i went from a 3 at 9am, a 6 at 10:10am and the little girl (although at the time she didn't seem little at all) was born at 10:38am. seven pounds, barely seven ounces, crying and messy and a girl. i wouldn't recommend delivering that fast, and come to find out the doctor doesn't recommend it either, but there's no stopping it. THE T.BLAKE FAMILY
(no, wyatt wasn't in the delivery room when his siter arrived...)

i decided that we should be finished with the childbirth thing or the next baby will be born in the kitchen. funniest part of labor: we listened to johnny cash just like we did when wyatt was born. only this time during labor i didn't want tom holding my hand or anything of that sort. in fact, when i saw him tapping his foot to the music or singing along i shot him such a look of madness that he stopped cold in his tracks. i wasn't a very gracious laborer, i'll admit it, but i never called him names or blamed him for my pain (at least not that i remember).
we're pretty excited to be at home again with wyatt and yuma and brooks. it feels good. cassidy's a sleeping and eating champ and wyatt's got a special little smile he cracks out for his sister every now and again. he's more interested in her stuff than her, though. thanks for all your prayers and phone calls and meals. we really love seeing you guys and want you to be a part of cassidy's life. here's a little show of our new baby if you have a minute and want to do something other than work -- http://sorellimages.com/cassidy (the link thing wasn't working so i hope this works instead. it's a great site to check out anyway)
OH MY GOSH!!! SHE"S PURPLE!!!
(i'm just stoked she's out)

here's one for the scrapbook, eh? i think i'm screaming about how little she is, or that she really is a girl. when you know what you're having they don't think to verify or reassure you that she really is a SHE. but she is. and no, she's not purple anymore.

i can't believe i'm less than a week away from giving birth and i have cold. are you serious? as if sleeping at night were possible in the first place, now i have to fight nausea AND sneezing, coughing and peeing every ten minutes. sorry to complain, people, but this is why people say the last month of pregnancy is the hardest. and at this point, i agree. if cassidy is 40 lbs i don't care, just get her out. please. and heal my sore nose while you're at it.

and counting

just a quick little update...no, my water didn't break, yet. we did set a date, though, in case she needs a little prodding. assuming that she isn't as adventurous and eager as her older brother, she will be arriving sometime february 13th. i don't think she'll take her sweet time once she's been summoned and i predict a birthday of the 13th; who cares if she's a "valentine's baby" or not, as long as she's out! so any time you feel like praying for a healthy and easy delivery, go for it. i'mlooking forward to it, the delivery, and i'm not worried. i checked out shawnee mission on monday and they seem just as nice as menorah, except that kelley won't be there to take care of me. but this should be old hat, right?
anyway, i'll keep you updated and let you know if her birthdate changes.

1.26.2007

happy birthday paul newman. or paulito newmano. or p. brigando newman. whatever your name is, you look darn good for 82.

in case you weren't aware of my extreme liking of paul newman, here's a little catch up on why this man is great...

one- he's been in some of the best movies ever made (thanks to steph and brad for being watchers of great movies): cool hand luke, butch CASSIDY and the sundance kid, the long hot summer (william faulkner short story), the hustler, hud, the sting, the drowning pool (with his wife joanne woodward, blessed woman), the color of money, and the hudsucker proxy (the coen brothers).

two- if you haven't tried "newman's own" you're missing out on great food, some totally organic (like the chocolate chip cookies which makes them good for you). and also the chance to help paul's charity, the hole in the wall camps (get it?), expense-free camps for kids with life-threatening illnesses and conditions. they've raised $175 million dollars for charity in the last 20 years; all of the money they make on newman's own, after taxes, goes to charities like the hole in the wall camp.

three- he's got gorgeous eyes. blue eyes that dabble just a little bit in the green realm. he also has an odd nose, a little hooked at the bottom. almost beak-like some might say. not me. perfect. (which really reminds me of a man who is even dearer to me... who will be 52 years younger than mr. newman on 4.11.2007)

four- he tells terribly corny jokes. like this one: (in reference to newman's own steak sauce) preferred by 9 out of 10 cows. we steak our reputation on it. (again, this reminds me of someone i love who tells jokes so bad that i wouldn't be surprised if he tried to add this to his own arsenal)

also, who else would let people see an image like this except someone totally confident and wonderful, and a little humble, although still very sexy. curious?

but with a mug like this, you can do anything... even eat 50 eggs (free-range, i'm sure).
happy birthday.

c'mon over

i wish i could invite everyone over during wyatt's naptime. he is so stinking cute when he's sleeping and then just getting up. i just peeked in on him and he's standing up in his crib, leaning on the edge of the rails with his pacifier in his mouth and holding onto his soft grey blanket. then, pop, he spits his pacifier out and starts to talk. wow. he's got to be the sweetest poco pollo in the world.

short attention spans

i knew you guys would go quiet on a long post. the only time people comment is on a funny or scandolous post. so here's a little (actually a lot) of skin. can you believe there's a small child in there? and she was freezing her tookus off at the time, i'm sure. i was.

funny story: my sister sarah took these pictures. when i was pregnant with wyatt we had scheduled to shoot some pregnancy picutres on friday, november 4th. well, my water broke thursday the 3rd and we never got around to the big belly pictures. i'm glad we got to take pictures this time around, but i'm ready for the girl to come out so i can tie my shoes.

may this photo warn all of you having sex...this could happen to you...lord willing.

elephant knees

we talk about the church being the bride and Christ the bridegroom a lot, in churches these days. for me it's always been kind of a floating term; how can a group of so many people represent one entity? what kind of suit does Jesus wear? and what's the point of the whole analogy anyway? i understand the general meaning behind it. tom and i used it in our wedding vows: just as Christ is head of the church so you will be head of our family (or something like that. i couldn't remember it 3 1/2 years ago, you think i'm going to be accurate now?) but finally i think i'm getting the meaning of this Christ and the church romance.

i'm reading gary wiens' book, _bridal intercession_, and he describes what this relationship looks like. i'm not very deep into it yet, but with what mike bickle says in the foreward and then the first chapter, this is what i've gathered. (i'll just quote because they say it so well). get ready to be excited about praying:

"...prayer that grows not out of our place of need, but out of God's passionate desire to commune with us as his Beloved."MB

"As we approach the last days, nothing is more important than growing in our understanding of the ways of God, so that even when we find His strategies unexpected or confusing, our hearts can be firmly established in the knowledge of His goodness and trustworthiness."MB

whether or not you believe we're living in the end times, the point is we were created to talk WITH God, not just at Him. we're not supposed to have this list of things we want to say, but to find out what He wants to say, too. it's called conversation and i've never really understood that in order to be in "relationship" i have to listen to him. to sit and be quiet, or ask questions and then wait for an answer.

so then gary wiens says, "And so He has spoken to us in various ways, with the consistent goal of engaging us in a dialogue about life in relationship with Him. this dialogue is called prayer, and its primary purpose is that we might come to know the heart of the One Who loves us and understands who we are and what we will become."

he goes on to talk about how God wants us to trust His intentions, like i trust tom's when he does things for me whether or not i can recognize it's because he loves me. He wants to be partners with us, not just this God in the sky who gave us a really fat book; somebody we use to explain things away, or question when we don't agree with what's going on in our lives or the world. it's humbling to think that, like tom says, the Almighty God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, wants to talk with me.

and then gary says, "We begin to say back to God that we agree with His agenda and His strategies, not only for ourselves and the things that concern us, but for every situation outside ourselves for which He gives us the strength to pray." i might even add "the strength and FAITH to pray". i think there's so much power in that, because sometimes, no matter how much i love you people, i don't have the energy in-and-of myself to talk with God about your needs.

i know this seems really random, but it hit me pretty hard this week. i'm looking forward to having a cup of coffee with the Almighty God, Creator of the heavens and the earth today. i'll ask Him if He wants cream and sugar, among other things...

adat yeshua

well, it's friday and time for shabbat. last semester several good friends and family spent our monday nights at this messianic jewish synagogue studying our jewish roots, our history through the jewish jesus and lots of other wildly interesting things that we just never knew. so, if you've got your mondays and/or tuesdays free and miss school and want to know more of jesus and the jews (no, john wasn't a baptist, har har, he was an immersionist) then check out adat yeshua and the jewish roots institute of kansas city.
it's not the fanciest of websites, but it's one of the coolest experiences. if little girl cassidy weren't coming so soon i'd sign up, but tom and brooks and lots of other cool people will be there. and if friday is open then come on out to a shabbat service at 7:30. rabbi feldman is a brilliant man who loves the lord and loves non-jewish people, too. what a combo. as we used to say in the 90's, "it'll rock your world."

brilliance

my sister rachel teaches pre-school to little little children. she was in town this weekend and told me a story about two kids in one of her classes. they are three years old and they're alphabatizing words, and not just the first letter but to the second and third letter. is that wonderful or what? it makes me so excited for wyatt to start talking and reading and all that stuff. my other sister sarah got him a membership to a children's book club for his birthday and i love reading him those books. with titles like "how to dinosaurs clean their rooms?" and "i love my mama" who wouldn't want to read. if only i could get him to sit still...

just because

so like everyone else in kansas we became farmers of a sort this fall and grew grass. just two months ago our lawn was dirt and now look! once the leaves got picked up, guess what i found! i'm so pleased! i prayed so much, mostly while standing outside making sure the sprinkler got all the grass and god answered by dinky little prayer for grass. i can't believe those seeds sprouted into this. ahhh...
and this little booger is cutting more teeth and is so unhappy right now, cryin and trying to sleep and just all out pouty. it makes me thankful that he has been as easy as pie for 12 months. i can take a few days of utter sadness, as long as they result in teeth (although the dr. informed me they aren't the front ones, but the side ones, so he'll be sporting the ever-popular 'i got in a fight and lost my front two teeth' look. otherwise known as vampirish.)

a gambling man

we just watched the world series of poker's final show this week and i personally was disappointed that jamie gold won. i mean, c'mon, he was the chip leader from day 4 on and then when he amassed enough chips to put anyone "all in" and he'd still be able to kick their butts, he'd get the most amazing cards. sometimes he got pocket queens when the other guy had pocket jacks. or he'd play a 5-2 (what??!!) and then get a straight! so i'm not really thrilled with this victory, plus the fact that he talked so much about what he had, he never lied, he'd show his cards and the other players still didnt' figure him out. disappointing.

and seeing that i'll never be in the world series of poker (well, slight chance anyway) it's a good thing. i told tom i was 95% sure we're having another boy. turns out i was only 5% right. yup. not so good at reading the tells of my pregnancy, i guess i just get sick whenever i'm pregnant, boy or girl. to be honest, i'm not sure i believe it 100% yet. so i'm praying the lord will help my unbelief so i can start buying skirts. pink skirts.

a gambling man

we just watched the world series of poker's final show this week and i personally was disappointed that jamie gold won. i mean, c'mon, he was the chip leader from day 4 on and then when he amassed enough chips to put anyone "all in" and he'd still be able to kick their butts, he'd get the most amazing cards. sometimes he got pocket queens when the other guy had pocket jacks. or he'd play a 5-2 (what??!!) and then get a straight! so i'm not really thrilled with this victory, plus the fact that he talked so much about what he had, he never lied, he'd show his cards and the other players still didnt' figure him out. disappointing.
and seeing that i'll never be in the world series of poker (well, slight chance anyway) it's a good thing. i told tom i was 95% sure we're having another boy. turns out i was only 5% right. yup. not so good at reading the tells of my pregnancy, i guess i just get sick whenever i'm pregnant, boy or girl. to be honest, i'm not sure i believe it 100% yet. so i'm praying the lord will help my unbelief so i can start buying skirts. pink skirts.

the switch of summer

there are a couple articles of clothing i'm mourning in this wardrobe switch. it has more to do with the growth of my belly than the change in the temperature, but nevertheless (is that one word?) i have moved my normal clothing to the basement, keeping only a few flexible pieces (thank you low- rise jeans) in the closet.
there's a patagonia skirt that would be perfect for this fall that will be folded for at least 7 months. i have a great plaid levi's shirt that is getting a little clingy for my comfort, not to mention the baby is having trouble moving. and as i went through my closet i realized there are clothes in there i never wear. how do you let go of these things? things you've had since high school. t-shirts you screenprinted yourself. tanks that fit just perfectly, if a little faded. i think, do i need this? wil i ever replace this for something better? how many black tank tops does a girl need? fortunately the vietnam vets came around with their pink bags and now i have an excuse to clean out the closet even more.

no ikea

we went to dallas this weekend and i have one word -- ikea. here's the deal: if you've never been there then you have no idea what this place is like. it is a wonderment to behold. our friends, the gales, went to minnesota a while back and asked us if we wanted them to bring anything back for us. we politely declined, not really thinking it was a necessity. we had no idea.
we went to dallas (frisco, actually) to visit jason and shannon and their quickly growing clan. tom also caught a coffee conference that proved to be helpful. really, though, the ikea rocked our world. the organization of the place is beautiful. the concept of not loading your cart till you're ready to check out is brilliant. the price, too hard to turn down. so really, what i'm saying is, i'm thankful we don't have an ikea anywhere close to us, otherwise my house would be more organized than a library and we would be starving. and i would have tom to blame.

honey this is very good

while washing the dishes the other day i was overwhelmed by God's idea of babies. how did he come up with babies? he created adam, fully grown and eve, out of a rib, but babies are a totally different story. they grow. they crawl. they stand. they laugh. they eat. they smile. that's the most amazing thing in the world.

when wyatt wakes up he's usually standing at the corner of the crib, holding on and trying to chew on the railing. when he sees me he moves away a little bit and smiles. oh. he's so glad i'm coming in to get him up for the new day. i pick him up, his diaper soggy and his precious skin so soft. and he keeps smiling until i lay him down to change that diaper...and then he thinks it's time to go back to bed. i reassure him and change his diaper and we begin the adventure of life that changed everything i ever knew to be true about life. nothing is the same.

the inevitable

this is why you don't work when you have children: inevitably when you leave them with their grandparents for a couple of hours they do something they've never done before, like smash their face against the mesh of the pack-n-play until they've pushed their way to the top and are standing up. wow. i'm so proud of the little bug, i just wish he'd learn to sit down on his own now.

happy birthday

it's been a year since we started this blog and we've come a long way, and yet not very far at all. we started off with a blog about soccer and it seems we've come full circle. more soccer. we've had a baby in the meantime and changed jobs and hairstyles and churches. thanks for checking in, thanks for your comments. we hope you have a great year of living and blogging.

i'll admit, blogging has lost some of its lustre, the newness is gone and i won't say it's a chore, but as people drop off (luke) i get a little down about the point of blogging. but every now and again i get a kick out of hearing about people's lives, once they update, so thanks guys. hope you're all healthy and happy and looking forward to more americanas.

losers

this about sums up the united state's 2006 fifa world cup experience: laughable and frustrating.

i know this may sound like the easy way out, but "Deutschland! Deutschland!" i like jurgen and his metrosexual coaching. maybe in 2010 he'll be the u.s. coach. a girl can dream.

but i will give a shout out to clint dempsey. he did something no one else on the team did, he scored.

2006 FIFA World Cup

i wanted to clear up any misconceptions about our trip to colorado for the world cup (yes, i know it's in germany right now) and let you all know that we did leave the house during those ten days. a brief photo-journal of what we did in winter park...

harrison passed his astronaut classes by hanging upside down in the gyro-something
landon won "the most daring 4-year old" as he jumped on the bungey trampoline and sped down the alpine slide with his dad and on solo trips
susan and eric proved their bungey love while doing flips at the same time
i climbed the wall...
lauren climbed the wall...
and eric climbed the wall
tom and i celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss
landon rode the horse
landon and harrison battled the swedish warrior lauren...and we watched soccer.

north of eden

i love public radio. so much that the water i was boiling for mac-n-cheese just boiled to nothingness. i guess that's better than overflowing all over the stove, then i'd have to clean it. today they're talking about community gardening and it makes me want to go get a plot out at the park. but i know that i won't; it's so much work! i'm trying to get herbs to grow in the sunporch and even that is a chore. i tried last year to grow herbs in the good ol' soil and the dog trampled them. between the dog and the trees, there's no way we're growing anything except dirt in our yard.

it's not like i don't want to walk out to my back yard and pluck some lettuce and carrots and onions and mix them in a nice salad, or to have fresh salsa without going to the store. but who has time for that? i guess some women do, like miss galadriel. this is a formal request for galadriel to post some pictures of her garden so we can all "ooh" and "ahh" over them and be jealous.

i have to go repent for coveting her vegetables.