Baby Dedication

It was a special weekend for our little family of four! We had Alec dedicated at our church on Saturday night. Since everyone keeps asking me...it's not a baptism (although I certainly pray he makes that choice someday!), it's where parents make a promise in front of the congregation to raise their child in a Christian home. We did this with Andra as well...although the girl refuses to pray with us before dinner, we're trying our best!! :) *sigh* The wills of three year-olds... :)

So the moment was significant...although I must admit,we were more than slightly distracted. You see, my typically shy, quiet three year-old decided to show off some less than desirable behavior as we stood on stage. in front of the entire church, mind you. *more sighs* It was nothing incredibly dramatic, but still humilating for a mommy. She refused to stand still, and kept trying to make a bee line for family next to us. You see, each family had been given a baby's bible for the child being dedicated. All the families were standing on stage, and the baby bibles were sitting on the floor in front of each family. Well, Andra decided SHE wanted the bible of our neighboring family because it had a pink post-it on it. Our pink post-it wasn't good enough. She wanted it BAD. So she kept trying to make a run for it and grab it, and Dave had to keep physically pulling her back.
She resisted...
Squirming and arguing ensues...
note to self: trying to reprimand a three year-old in a whisper doesn't work very well...
this is starting to feel like the longest five minutes of my life...
Dave spots an old lady in the congregation shaking her head disapprovingly, as if we have no control over our children...

See? humiliating. (clearly, this woman has either (a) never had children, or (b) long since forgotten the challenges of toddlerhood)

Funny thing is...my sister's family was also having their newborn dedicated. As we're physically wrestling with Andra, I look down a few families only to see my sister also manhandling her three-year old, Garrett! I had to chuckle. The joys of parenthood! My parents were in the congregation, and I wanted to burst out laughing...their hearts must have been bursting with pride knowing THEIR two grandchildren were the two worst-behaved kids on stage! That said, Andra and Garrett are both outstanding, usually well-behaved kids. I think they were in cahoots together to embarrass their parents that night! :) (I was really glad Alec and Callie were being dedicated together...Andra and Garrett, as newborns, were also dedicated together the same night!)

Despite the drama...mission accomplished. We introduced Alec to our church and made a promise that will impact his life and every detail of it. Now I just pray, every day, for wisdom to guide him to God...what an awesome responsibility.

(check out Garrett's face in this one! haha! note: click on the picture for a full screen view to truly appreciate his face-making skills)

Winter Doldrums

I think we've got a case of the winter doldrums...at least that's the excuse I'm using for not blogging in so long. My "to do" list has seemed a mile long post-holidays. Christmas always brings lots of great new things (and toys!) for our house, so I had to do some serious purging and reorganizing. We have really outgrown our little home, and clutter makes me crazy, so home reorganization had to be completed before blogging. For the sake of my sanity. :)

So we don't have much new to report. Other than happy meal boxes on toddlers' heads....



...and lots more gummy grins from our jolly little guy. He is the most happy-go-lucky baby ever.

Nothing seems to rattle him...other than the blood curdling screams that come from our three year-old on occasion when she's having a tantrum. :) I know parents out there can relate. I think the winter makes it worse...we all need some fresh air and outside play time to blow off some steam! And it's only January...

We did "get out of dodge" over the weekend for a short trip to Purdue to visit my little bro. He's still kicking some serious academic and extra-curricular booty at school. And he's got his own digs too...he's living in an apartment with friends off campus. It was fun to hang out, catch up, and have an excuse to indulge in pizza together.

Until next time!...and I promise to not make it as long. hopefully. :)