older now

it's true, i'm older now, may 28th has come and gone and i don't feel different. the date means nothing, right? it's nice when friends and family get together and eat in your honor, but really, i felt like i should celebrate my mom because she went to the hospital and got turned away before she was legitimately in labor. and i'm thankful she had me.
yesterday wasn't important because it was my birthday, nor was it important because it was wyatt's first time in the pool (although that is fun) but it's memorable (get it) because my sister found a gray hair on my head! that's right, my first gray hair, and it was long! i'm a little overwhelmed, because i feel so young, and yet thrilled because i am indeed getting older. so hats off to all natural girls who are willing to let their hair go gray. or silver. or white. in a month people won't be thinking about the color, they'll be distracted by the dreadlocks...

go outside...right now...can you hear the crickets?

Ferdinando & Justin

one of my very best friends came into town last weekend, a musican from nashville with a tweed jacket and a shirt that read "detroit was built for lovers." we tried to remember the last time we saw eachother and decided it had been almost two years, right after his wedding. realizing it had been that long hurt a bit. realizing in that time we talked maybe three times, one of those being when wyatt was born, hurts more. but he came bearing gifts and i was elated- ferdinand the bull.

an oversized copy of the 1936 classic, it's a special story for so many reasons. we first were introduced to ferdinand in college when we realized the cow on elliott smith's arm was really a bull. finding out that this bull is a peace-loving animal rather than a dust-snorting beast makes the experience even sweeter. and then when justin (the giver) got into hemingway his favorite aspect was, of course, the bullfights. but justin isn't a roll-over, belly-up kind of musician; he's the opinionated, out-spoken rocker. i was reminded of that as we sat drinking coffee and talking about jesus and music and friends. one day he'll have a messy matador and a fiery bull on his bicep, and hopefully i'll see it soon. it was a reassuring night, listening to him and laughing with him and knowing that some people never change, and some change just enough.

g.e.i. or just rain?

it's been so long i almost forgot how to log in. what's new, you might ask. or maybe not. well, we've got wyatt sleeping through the night without his pacifier or swaddle. he now rolls all over the bed because of this new freedom; i find him on the opposite side of the crib from where i laid him down. the solid 7+ hours are nice. and he tried his first solid food today, a pretty milky version of the healthiest rice cereal. the box says "no gei." what's gei you might ask, or maybe not... it's genetically engineered ingredients, duh. (no doi) so our baby is all organic, if you don't count the wendy's i ate last week. yes, he is strapped into his carseat; that's what happens when you're too little to sit up on your own. he liked the cereal well enough and so i feel a sense of peace. we're leaving him with my parents next weekend while we travel to florida for paul's wedding and knowing that the little guy can mix it up with milk AND cereal makes me feel better. but i am going to miss the dickens out of that boy.
today tom went into wyatt's room while he was napping, and was so taken with how great his son is, he said he wanted to shake his fists with joy, in true soccer player fashion. i love my husband even if he is 52 weeks and three days away from being 30.
we're waiting to hear from a friend about a possible commitment in helping with the coffee shop. tom's getting his ducks in a row and ryan closed on the building (we hope). mark moved in down the street (there goes the neighborhood, right sheryl crow?) so he's been around more than when he lived in iowa, or california. megan cut her hair but not really since she's scared of the boys and their vicious ways. galadriel's son (and luke's) andrew is an overachiever, getting well over a 95% on height and weight. tom has a new soccer buddy in andy michael and he's stoked to really talk futball with the welshman. sarah and james went to houston to visit md anderson, only to find out that the dr's recommendation here at ku was right on. a second opinion never hurts, especially when you're staying a week for free and you've got a private pool. dad got cleared to golf, "pom" and i watched abbie (she calls me "ee") and rachel's coming home in a couple weeks. susan and eric highly recommend new zealand (lucky) and shannon is potty training kelly. anything else you want to know? oh, steph and jack are selling their house; super cute, nice neighborhood, interested? bri's going to school and brooks is working like a dog. not really interesting, but it seems like everyone is on the busy bus. did you get your ticket?

quiet wyatt

why is my baby crying

a. he's hungry
b. he's tired
c. he's poopy
d. he's not poopy
e. he's sick
f. he misses his dad
g. he's uncomfortable
h. he's teething
i. he's not allowed to watch tv (the tournament's on)
j. all of the above

good thing he's cute...

march 9th & god is still eternal

today was one of those kick in the pants days. get it together. evaluate. do something. i mentioned how powerful leah's words were wednesday, about not getting lost in the daily frustrations that we face. tom and i talked a bit about it and were so thankful that through leah's open heart we got redirected onto the path of what matters. i needed it wednesday night because bookkeeping can be a drag, especially when i'm behind and i want to do a good job because i know i'm blessed to be doing work from home (and for a godly woman, no less). so i was stressed wednesday when i left our house for home group, then leah shared her eternal perspective and i went home and finished work. i wasn't freaked out about it and even though the next day was equally busy, i survived.

this evening as i walked away from washing a huge pile of dishes, i noticed the kay arthur daily verse calendar. i thought, ah, who cares. but then turned around realizing i needed to hear from god. i hadn't read it since the 8th, wednesday, and when i turned to the 9th i read this: while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. of course kay goes on to talk about not getting so busy with earthly things that we forget the eternal and i nodded in agreement. is god putting everyone on the same page? is life so basic that he knows what we'll struggle with or is he so great that he can incorporate the tiniest details into a massive plan involving so many people.

just a little "thanks leah" again because god is using you. and everyone else, for that matter. so my get up and do something, well, it was leaving the tv off and reading a little bit of what god has to say. and that feels good.

windows open

susan got married! after a year of planning, the thing went off without a hitch, or they got hitched, or something like that. us girls got our hair done, which was a fiasco for some ladies. shannon ended up with a bad 80's version of a bee-hive and kelly took hers down before we could get a look at it. but with some bobby pines and curling irons, everyone looked beautiful, especially susan. eric was dashing in his tux, but really wowed everyone with his song for susan, a coldplay-u2-david crowderish song written, recorded and produced by none other than mr. simon. it was, well, flooring. so, without going into all the details, and there are a lot, i'll just say it was perfect. and soon they're off to new zealand.
jason and shannon stayed with us for the wedding and landon played big cousin to wyatt, very cute as you can see. soon landon will have another little sibling, and will have more little ones to protect.

dad had surgery on his knee, a whole replacement of the thing, in fact. and he's doing well. moving and shaking almost to speed. i'm thankful everything went according to the doctor's wishes; his golf game will be back to normal, or better, soon.and this guy is rolling over, belly to back and wants so badly to get from his back to his belly. it's amazing what these little guys accomplish in so little time. i wish i was as productive.
i'm planning on making a trip to the peanut soon with bri since i'm having a beepers void. and maybe i'll start jogging. or walking. one more wedding, paul and lauren on the beach, and then world cup madness. in the meantime i plan on writing a little bit on my own, and maybe following the rules of the english language. or not. or maybe i'll just open up some windows.

february 24th

our dishwasher backed up a little while ago, sending water out underneath our "floating" laminate floor. water bubbled up around the corners and warped the edges. soon an odor filled the kitchen, specifically right next to the sink and dishwasher.
i don't particularly like the look of laminate, the fake wood stands out against the nice honey color of the rest of the wood. i've wanted to replace the kitchen floor since we moved in but the money was never available.
it turns out we're re-doing the floor. when we first realized we'd have to do something about the problem, we panicked. what money were we going to use to replace the floor? how could we afford ceramic, which was really the only way to be sure our floors wouldn't be ruined again? would we need a new dishwasher too? we talked with justin, our flooring specialist (thanks!) and he suggested checking into our home owners insurance. he sent someone out to look at the floor in the meantime, and we started to rip up the laminate, in order to save the rest of the floor from rotting.
the adjuster from allstate came out today and looked at what remains of our floor. we were nervous, but had prayed for God's favor. she checked everything out, measured off the floor, asked us some questions and then told us the news. she can't insure the rot under the floor, we'd have to take care of it ourselves since it looks like it's been happening over a long period of time. she suggested we get a new dishwasher. but she could stretch out the terms a bit and give us enough to cover the cost of the laminate plus installation and whatever else went along with that type of floor. tom asked her to approximate how much that would be. probably a couple thousand dollars, she replied. a couple thousand dollars. praise Jesus, that's more than we expected and probably more than we need to cover new floor and a new dishwasher.
as i prepared big breakfast today, standing on the remnants of the old floor, i read the verse for today: and my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. philippians 4:19. thank you God. you have great timing.

the vortex of chaos (otherwise known as too busy for leah to survive)

here's what we've been doing these last weeks...
we rescued two stray dogs, johnny and steven. here's johnny biting tom's ear. he did nibble just a little while he whispered sweet nothings. tom and mark took the dogs down the street to animal haven. we hope they made it back to their home.

we visited brenden dean wickerscheim, just two weeks old and styling the greatest boots. here's wyatt showing brenden how to do the west merriam sign. it's a little feminine, but hey, we are from Merriam.
then we rescued another stray, this one was following the mailman around the neighborhood when i got home the other day. turns out not all mailmen are afraid of dogs. (and not all mailmen are men, either). also, this dog belongs to the people down the street. he and their other dog, a rottweiler-lab mix escaped and when their owner came to get the boxer (guppy i think his name is) he didn't use a leash to get him home. just picked him up and carried him. he was a bigger man, but it was awkward just the same. wonder if they ever take the pup on walks.
we also forced some paper whites which grew to about two feet tall. not bad for february. they smelled fantastic, which was good since we had them on our dresser, right next to the bathroom.

but that's not all we did...

timing is everything

this last week has been an interesting one.

i know that i'm gifted in the area of service; i was created to help and serve others. i love having people over to our house. i love cooking dinner for people. i love helping people get things done. but i also love having an afternoon to myself, sitting at home, drinking coffee, reading a book or watching tv. i actually need those times to myself. it gets hard serving.
tom and i actually discussed this last week, me venting because "i have so much to do!" i look at my calendar and freak out. of course, then God figures things out and cancels this thing, or moves that thing, brings someone around to help out or gives me enough energy to do it. i was feeling alright throughout this last week.
then paul came over and out of nowhere announced, "i thought a lot about you yesterday, leah." oh really? i got nervous, thinking i've missed the mark on something. he sits down and tells me and tom about his sunday and things he's been learning. then he elaborates for me. "you should dig deep into what being a servant is. look up some verses where Jesus illustrates his servant's heart." he reminds me that i can only do these things when i look for God's hand in it and serve the way Jesus did. and of course, i'm so encouraged by this; it's awesome when God speaks, which he seems to be doing a lot this year. i guess that's what you get for actually listening.

give me your hungry

these women are amazing providers. whenever i go to galadriel's or leah's there is food. and that's what i'm talking 'bout. last sunday the boys made a special trip to see the monster trucks. big and little boy alike enjoyed the demolition, however, if i hear "ARE YOU READY?!" one more time my ears will explode. it's usually yelled at the top of your lungs (you being ryan) and then everyone else chiming in "ARE YOU READY?!!!" or adding some other detail from the escapade.

the girls stayed at the gale's, talking and eating and feeding little ones too small to feed themselves. except for isobel. she has no trouble eating on her own. i'm so proud of her. however (and this is important) she's got this deal with tom where she is almost afraid of him. i guess the story goes something like that: he loves her too much, and she feels smothered. it's really too bad, because lovin' from tom is a nice thing. maybe one day she'll learn that hugs and kisses from cute boys are good things...i'm sure luke can wait for that day, though. but for now, she knows how to reject men really well.

i'm ready for my close up

i just watched the last hour of 'sunset boulevard' and i'm not sure how it relates to tom. but it was actually quite scary and i don't recommend it to anyone. i will say 'walk the line' was wonderful, the best movie wyatt's ever seen. i cried, as any normal person would. also, 'king kong' was worth the price of admission. a bit lengthy, but much more entertaining than i could have imagined. i have a very limited imagination, though.

luke's a movie

since it kind of seemed like luke was talking to himself about the whole movie link, i'll let you know that i was schindler's list. and while i may identify with nazi germany and hitler, oh wait...no it's because i'm SO compassionate and put others first. which makes sense since apparently i like to throw the martyr card at tom.
tom was sunset boulevard, which he wasn't too happy about because neither one of us knew anything about the movie. and then it was on tv, so we recorded what little we could and i think he was mad that it's such an old movie.
then we tried the leader test from the same website and i came up saddam hussein first, then really truly hitler. now's probably not a good time to mention that i studied german for three years in college. maybe that's why i like the thompsons and the gales so much, little blond-haired, blue-eyed babies everywhere. all joking aside, where did adolph get off thinking that was the perfect combo anyway, little dark-haired, dark-eyed moustache man? and when did this post get so crazy? i'll stick to stories about the baby and the dog. sorry guys.
(all of this started because i was responding to luke, remember?)(do you think i'm going crazy with rhetorical questions?)

i wasn't kidding

thank goodness for other dogs. since monday, zero has been hanging out at our house while his parents, jason and colleen, have their baby. brenden dean was born on monday evening and is terribly cute. unfortunately, i forgot to bring my camera when we visited last night, so you don't get to see his cuteness. here with yuma is zero. he's an american bulldog and he is THICK. they have played outside almost the whole week, biting and wrestling and chewing and barking. poor zero tried to get a little hump-action in, but yuma made sure he knew who was boss. and i wasn't joking about yuma being confused on who is a dog and who is a baby. as wyatt gets more alert i introduce him to new things: last week it was two little finger puppets, a frog and a turtle. as i sat on the ground and danced them in front of wyatt, yuma seemed a bit overly-interested in these guys. not long after our little play time we left the house, and i made sure the puppets were on the table, not quite out of reach for yuma, but not in her domain. when we came home the little turtle was no where to be found. hmmm... i had my suspicions. when i got up for a late night feeding (i wish it was cookies and coffee instead of breastmilk) i noticed the evidence, plain as day (or night with a lamp on). the proof is before you folks. what's a mother to do? one day wyatt will be big enough to tell yuma what's what, but for now is it right that the baby and the dog are sharing toys? is this yuma's way of telling us that she hates it when abbie takes her toys? will this confusion ever end?

are you who you think you are?

my brother sent this link to my whole family to see what movie we all are. the whole idea is based on the myers-briggs test. lately i've been interested in personality tests, trying to look at myself from a broad view. i'm not an introspective girl, usually just living every day as it comes, hopefully relying on god and his plan but not really thinking deeply about life. a group of us have been learning more specifically about the seven redemptive gifts from the new testament. it seems like we're all finding what "mold" we're made out of, with all of our drawbacks and quirks. it's been more reassuring than most personality tests, revealing a bigger picture of how we work together, like the arms and legs and eyes of this great endeavor. maybe you already know where you fit in, but i'm still curious, what movie are you?

sibling rivalry

we have a jealous dog. i thought we had drawn the line between pet-love and child-love, but apparently yuma is convinced otherwise. i hope wyatt doesn't get confused.

they say this is christmas

we made it, the other side of christmas.
we hope you all had a great season of celebration; afterall, this is the best excuse for time together with people you love and remembering the one who loves us the most. is that why we give gifts? in the blake family we resolved that we're not about the gifts, sending out lists and making sure we meet the financial standard. it's a nice feeling, knowing that this year we're focusing on our relationships and sending cards and things on birthdays and just spending more time together over the holidays. not that we could ever spend more time together than we did this last december 25th to january 1st. in the franz family we resolved that we would continue to give gifts for every holiday and pseudo-holiday, because that's our familial love language. what did you learn from your holiday? was a smaller gathering the greatest gift? did you start a new tradition? what moment made you smile the most? we had a full week but here's a glimpse of the madness we called christmas...
even though he believed with his whole heart that the long package under the tree was a light saber, miles was stoked to get a bow just like his dad's. only bigger...isobel got one of her many puzzles, the eternally cute carebears. she was eager to start putting it together, but i'm not quite sure why she isn't wearing a shirt. papa rod dressed up like ol' saint nick and handed out goodies to abbie and wyatt. then he hopped on his unconventional golf cart and made his rounds through the neighborhood. wyatt could hardly stand the excitement. i'm still waiting for my pony.
the don, aka mike blake, celebrated his 60th a little early, but definitely in style. we got on the party bus and toured the city, visiting places around town that have special meaning: his boyhood home, the "house on cottonwood" where the blake kids grew up, his office, et al. it will go down in the history books as quite a great surprise and quite possibly the longest limo ride ever.it's a good thing wyatt likes his car seat. and loves being held.
merry christmas to all, thanks for being part of our lives. we love you all and hope your 2006 is filled with lots of laughs and many blessings.

the boys

wyatt and andrew had their first sleep over on new years. aren't they cute? it's safe to say that they get their cuteness from their moms, eh?

roll over, roll over

this baby is pure coziness. he's holding his head up, so when i rest him over my shoulder he nestles into my neck. i can hear his quick little breaths and can't resist kissing his pudgey cheek. some people don't enjoy newborns; they say they're boring. but right now i'm at the point where i agree with his onesie, if only they could stay small forever. what's so great about a 6 week old baby?
the tiny goosebumps he gets when i give him a bath
his tight grasp on my hair
the grunts he makes in his sleep
the high-pitched squeal when he tries to talk
his wide eyes after he eats
his thinning hair
his desire to be held close
his struggle to get his arms free from the swaddle and then how he screams when they're finally loose
his sneezes
his tiny boogers
the way he kicks when i change his diaper
his determination to roll over... and his squeal of success, or exhaustion.
pick one. then come see him and find out for yourself.

not for hire

someone told us that once wyatt arrived we would be living in a bubble. it's true, except i think this guy meant we would forget stuff all the time and basically be less functional. i think i've entered the busy tunnel. it's probably because life broken down into 3-4 hours increments means you have to prioritize. and there's no such thing as relaxing any more. exibit A:someone has to clean off the dog's paws when she comes in from romping in the snow.
someone has to feed the family, and do the dishes (i'm actually a kitchen snob and refuse to let people help. get out!)
and since we want to be hospitable, we try to keep the house clean and the food fresh. but that doesn't mean we won't talk a little trash while playing fifa.
someone has to feed the little booger. he can't sleep all day, dreaming of emmylou and baby back ribs.
that's not to say tom doesn't help. he's great at keeping out the cold... (winkwink)

it's a tiring job, being a wife/mother/friend/blogger. but darn it, at the end of the day... i'm tired.

girls v. boys

of course, we spent the last four days with family, blake and franz alike. we kicked off wednesday with rachel and dinner, then made our way over to the blakes to see jason and shannon and their two kids, landon and kelly. then thursday at the blakes, friday at the franzes and saturday was a mixture of both families.

there are two main differences between the two families: food and gender. the blakes eat because it's the holidays; the franzes have holidays to eat. and though there's different reasoning for eating, there are always dirty dishes.

a more subtle yet important difference is that the blakes grew up as three boys and one girl and the franzes grew up one boy and three girls. nevermind that people are now married and things have evened out a bit more, conversations still run in the true fashion of male-female communication.

for instance, last night at the blakes we spent about 30 minutes debating height among the boys: is paul taller than eric and is jason really 6'1? after much debate they decided to get out the tape measure and the level and mike blake measured each of his boys. tom had to be measured three times because he didn't believe he was really that much shorter than the other boys. and indeed the first measure was inaccurate, only showing that he's 5'11 and 1/2 instead of his true height of 5'11 and 3/4. rewind to saturday afternoon and the jewelry party that my sister rachel had while my dad and uncle watched football. a bunch of women came over to my mom's house and hung out talking about and trying on different necklaces, earrings and bracelets. the conversation ran along the lines of babies, mothers and clothes. and we're not even girly girls.

when we played poker at the franzes the girls dominated the mood: lots of laughter and talking about (and enjoying) old memories. meanwhile, when we play games at the blakes there's more debate about cheating and rules and when the boys reminisce there's more conflict about accuracy of story-telling than laughter about the fact that one of the boys actually pooped in the bathtub.

we'll see how wyatt adjusts to the holidays and his different families. certain things are a given: he'll keep eating like a champ and be a true competitor at most things. and maybe one day he'll be able to take on abbie when she pokes him in the eye.

is the death cab before or after the hearse?

i was telling luke today that his musical kindness is blog-worthy. for the last few months he's been generous in sharing his new and old music listening. the first cd was comedically titled "mix tape for another man's wife" and even though it's a cd, it's still a great mix. it reminds me of high school, when my guy friends would make me real mix tapes. blink 182, h20, spoon, frank black, cursive, all these bands joined together to make the background music to lunches in the atrium and late night swims before graduation.

just when i thought i had outgrown these silly compilations, here comes luke, the husband of one of my best friends, sharing music that i had forgotten existed. interpol, the killers, sufjen stevens, death cab for cutie. so thank god for friends with good music and the willingness to share that goodness. maybe one day i'll be able to figure out our burner and reciprocate the generosity. until then i'll just blog about it as a pathetic form of a thank you.

paternity leave

something about being self-employed is alluring. maybe it's the flexible hours, or working from home, i'm not sure. i am still technically employed by both abm, llc and kelly jackson photography. and what that means for me is: no maternity leave.

kelly is laid back about the whole thing, although i predict a minor, or possibly major, breakdown in the financial system. will the bills get paid or will they remain on my shelf awaiting my uncertain return? megan, please check those bills.

and since abm is a family company it means both dad and mom ask me if i've done the commission statements or the postcards for sunflower dayschool. the answer to both is no.

that's why i'm posting. my eyes are slits, wyatt is waking up and i'm supposed to be "crunching numbers." (my creative writing degree is oh so handy.) but i thought i'd let you all know, we're all doing great, working hard and yuma is keeping everyone in line.

and it's getting better all the time

there's nothing better than a sister who knows what she's talking about. except having two sisters who know what they're talking about. rachel lives in denver and runs a pre-school out of her home. she is the "girl" of the family, which isn't really saying much since none of us look good in pink or need to talk excessively about our days. but she knows how to look beautiful and she's kept me updated on good maternity fashion, sending me great skirts that i wish i could still wear.

and sarah, with her incredibly perfect 20 month-old daughter, remembers enough of her pregnancy, delivery and early life with abbie to keep me feeling like i know what i'm doing. with a style so laid back it's a wonder she runs her own business, she's helped me relax and just do what is natural with wyatt.

and then i have galadriel, my mother mentor/rock star/baby-delivering beauty. yesterday she gave birth to andrew grey, whom we mistakenly called "little greybear." when it was all said and done, he amazed all of us weighing in at 9 1/2 pounds. purely a thompson boy, as galadriel, with her uma thurman-like frame could never produce such a hefty offspring. without using a little miracle grow, that is. i guess that's what happens when the doctor pushes the date up at the sonogram but then conveniently moves it back the week you think you're due. that baby had nothing but time to kill and jalapeno chips and pepperoni to digest.

at one point i thought all i ever needed or wanted was my own immediate family. i even prayed for a small in-law family, underestimating god's gift for irony. and they are a great family, in both size and quality. but i've also realized that life gets even better when you go down this road with people who love you because they choose to love you. i ache to hold little andrew in my arms and kiss him like he's my own. congratulations thompsons. it doesn't get any better than this, does it...

happy thanksgiving

so if you haven't heard, he's here. little squealy wyatt decided he wanted thanksgiving dinner, too, so the floodgates opened and on friday november 4th at 1:18am he appeared. magically almost. i remember saying, "i can't do this" repeatedly and "this is ridiculous" once he was out. other than that, the pain of contractions and the frustration at the stalling tactics of my husband as well as my good friend and nurse kelly to get me an epidural stand out.

and then there's wyatt. having never done this before, it's all so fun and different. and he gets cuter every day. unfortunately the pictures don't do him justice. needless to say, eveything he does is amazing and cute and requires both of us to watch his every move. well, except when he's sleeping. which is a lot.

so thanks all friends and family for your prayers. it was god's grace that brought wyatt here safely, quickly and in good health. you are a blessing and we pray wyatt will be a blessing to you. family is good.