Times of Trouble

I have been seeing a lot of consequenses of this horrible economy this week. Some of it has hit in our house, and some of it has hit in the homes of my friends all over the country. It certainly is a scary time for all of us. I just wonder how bad it will get, long it will last, and will our grandchildren or great-grandchildren learn about this time in their history classes just like we learned about the Great Depression?

During this time, Nate and I have really been leaning on God to help us through. Perhaps this is teaching us that we need to be leaning on Him all the time, not just in times of trouble. I don't know. Irregardless, we are (and really I mean I am) trying very hard to understand and come to terms with the fact that everything is happening for a reason, and that this is all part of God's plan for us. It just comes naturally to Nate to have unwavering faith, I am still working on it on a daily basis.

Today during my devotional and prayer time, I was reminded of two verses that I think fit very well into this time. I came across the first one back in September 2007, when I was working full time and hating every minute I was away from my baby. I wrote it on Post-It note and stuck in the sunvisor in my car. It's still there, almost a year and a half later.

Count it all joys when you fall into various trials,

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

James 1:2

The second one is from the sermon in church this past Sunday. Our pastor just finished up a series on getting rid of emotional baggage and Sunday's message was about insecurity. The Scripture was Psalm 46 and I think everyone should be mindful of this verse, especially now.

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

So now I will go to bed feeling comforted, knowing that no matter what, we will always have God to help us through.

Dallas Children's Museum

On Saturday Luke and I met up with some friends from my mommy message board. We went to the Children's Museum, which is part of the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. It was so much fun! The Children's Museum is designed for kids under 7 and there were so many things to do. Luke barely lasted two hours before he was so exhausted so I can't wait to take him back when we can spend more time exploring!

Playing at the sand table:


In the kitchen:


Fishies!!!


Going through the tunnel:


Fireman Luke!


Looking in the mirrors...this picture cracks me up!


He got brave at one point and ventured over to the Lego table without me - it was a shocker!


Playing with a puzzle:


At the water table with his friends:

Playing Outside

I love it when it's warm in January. It was so nice at the end of last week so we spent a lot of time outside. Here are a few pictures that I shot of Luke while we hung out in the front yard.

Playing with the ball:


Testing his limits:


So big!

Look Out!

The sidewalks in our neighborhood will never be the same again!

Da Duh!

I don't know if I've written this before, but my child does not watch tv. It's funny, before he turned one I did not want him to watch tv at all. If he started looking at it, I turned it off or turned him around. Well that has come back to bite me because now I would love for him to watch a little tv here or there to give me a little bit of a break! But he just will not sit in front of the television. I know that it's a good thing, but anyway.

There are a few exceptions to this no tv policy that Luke has. He loves watching music on tv. If there is any kind of singing going on, he stops to see what's going on. And he gets these mini-obsessions of what he wants to watch all the time. The first obsession was Sugarland's "All I Want To Do" video. He still asks for "oo-oo-oo" and we first DVRed it back in August. Heck, we had to buy a DVD recorder when we switched from Dish to U-Verse since we lost everything off of our DVR.

The next obsession was the Aggie War Hymn. I found a video on You Tube and anytime he sees me at the computer he asks to watch it. He does this by swaying back and forth (like saw varsity's horns off) and humming the song. He still watches it but not nearly as much as he did a month ago.

The next obsession is "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music. He asks for "cuckoo" whenever we are in my bedroom because the DVD is in the player in there. When we were both sick and I couldn't get out of bed, we watched "cuckoo" about a hundred times. He doesn't like to watch anything else in the movie so I have to keep rewinding back to the beginning of the song. He sings along by "cuckoo"-ing with Brigitta, Marta, and Gretel.

And the latest obsession is the hot dog dance from Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I had it on one day and he paid NO attention to the show until the hot dog dance came on. Now he asks for "da duh" all of the time.

Since I started typing this, I have restarted "da duh" five times. And I promise I am not lying, he just walked into the room and said, "Mama! Cuckoo? Oo-oo?" I guess he's done with the hot dog dance and is ready to move on.

So I guess he does watch some tv, but the tv he watches involves me having the remote ready to restart whatever it is he wants to see. And that doesn't really accomplish giving me a break!

SAHM v. WOHM v. WAHM?

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. It can be hard to keep that mindset when things are happening that I don't understand, but I believe it just the same.

I really questioned the plan when I got pregnant just two months after getting my first "real" job after graduating from college. After all, that was not in my plan. Nate and I really wanted me to work for a few years before starting a family so that I could stay at home with our future children. That was very important to us. However, when I got pregnant we knew that I would have to go back to work after Luke was born.


It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I hated every minute that I was away from Luke, even though he was only two months old and didn't really do much of anything. A piece of me was missing and I would cry myself to sleep every night knowing that the next day I had to get up and do it all over again.

Luckily, I only had to work for three months. I am so happy that things worked out where I could stay at home. Although it has its ups and downs, I would not trade it for the world. I love being home with Luke everyday. I truly believe that he has thrived from having me with him during the day.

But as time goes by, it is getting harder for our family to make it work on just one income. I set out to find something I could do to help our finances. And I found something great.

I have become part of The M.O.M Team. It's a great thing - they help moms just like me be able to stay at home and make a constant residual income. The M.O.M. Team is partnered with a wellness company who manufactures green products here in the United States. They have everything imaginable from laundry detergent to vitamins to shampoo and conditioners. The products are wonderful for families who have allergies, asthma, and skin irritiations such as eczema. Since Luke and I both suffer from these problems, I know these products will be a great fit for our family.

Please visit my website, http://www.themomteam.com/catch710, to request more information. I would love to talk to anyone who is interested in building a business or anyone who just wants to purchase these amazing products!

Turning the corner, I hope

Well I think we are almost passed all of this mess. I hope.

Luke was 100% better today. He is still having diarrhea, but it is not as frequent. He acts like he feels totally fine. My little stinker is back! I am so happy about that. I hate it when my little guy doesn't feel well. It is one of the worst parts about being a mom, knowing that your kid doesn't feel well and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. I will be so happy when he stops having diarrhea, that is no fun for any of us! He has gotten pretty good about telling me when he goes "yucky". (Warning - this story may be a little TMI...) Last night we were letting him run around naked in the bathroom after his shower, trying to air out his private areas because the diarrhea has caused a bad yeast infection, and all of a sudden he told me, "Mama. Yucky." Then he pointed at the rug in front of the shower. Sure enough, he'd gone to the bathroom.

I, on the other hand, have had the worst day ever. I got the bug around 1 am and I am just now starting to feel human again at 8:15 pm. I think it is almost out of my system. I hope. This stuff is just awful! I really thought I was on my deathbed this morning. It was horrible. I had to suffer through by myself this morning, and that sure was interesting. My friend Melanie brought me some Sprite on her way to work and I don't know if I would have survived without it. Thankfully Nate was able to come home from work around 2 pm so he was able to watch Luke after his nap. That was a huge help and I am very grateful for it.

So anyway, hopefully the Stroder family is almost to full strength again. Thanks to everyone who commented on previous posts about Luke, I really appreciate it!!!

We Survived!

It was the second most interesting night I have had as a parent. (The first was the night I was in labor!)

Luke continued to dry heave and gag throughout the night, but nothing else came up. He turned the corner around 4 am when he asked for some water and it all stayed down. Then he had one of the nastiest diapers I have ever had to change. I finally got some good sleep after that, though. Up to that point, any time Luke would move or make a noise I would wake up and look at him to make sure he wasn't gagging or anything. He moves a lot when he sleeps, too. It was a pretty restless night until 4 am. I guess once I saw he wasn't throwing up anymore, I could relax. I slept hard until 7:45 am, when all of a sudden there was a toddler crawling on me, asking for "awa" and "cuckoo". Translation - he wanted some water and to watch the "So Long, Farewell" segment in The Sound of Music. That is his latest addiction.

He is napping now, but I expect him to wake up at any time. He's been asleep for almost 2 hours. Before he went down he was acting like his normal self, with the exception of the nasty diapers. I guess we just have to wait for this thing to run its course. If it's the same thing Nate had a few weeks back, it should be out of his system by late tonight. Nate's lasted almost exactly 24 hours.

Now I'm praying that I don't get this crud!

Long Night Ahead of Us

Poor Luke started throwing up around 9 pm. He made this really strange sound over the monitor so I knew I needed to go check on him and as soon as I walked in his room the smell hit me. The poor thing was just laying on his belly, completely still, almost like he was in shock over what had just happened.

He's thrown up a total of four times within the last hour. We have him in bed with us so we can keep an eye on him. The last two times we've been able to position him where he hasn't gotten anything on himself. Score one for Mom and Dad.

We're on our second load of laundry for the night. I'm praying this passes quickly. One thing I've noticed since sharing a bed with him for the last hour is he inherited my crazy sleeping. At one point, he was laying on his side with one leg draped over Nate's stomach. Didn't seem comfortable to me, but he was enjoying it.

Nate joked that it was going to be a long night for me - well so far we've had to tag team where one of us cares for Luke and the other cleans up. Looks like it will be a long night for both of us.

One of the many joys of parenting, I guess!

The Best Part of My Day

Who wouldn't love getting snuggles like this?! I am so lucky to get them every night.

On a side note, it was completely dark in Luke's room when this picture was taken.

I am in awe of the power of my flash.

2+2=4

This kid amazes me at least once a day. He'll put two and two together and come up with four in some of the most bizarre instances. It blows me away what he can figure out or remember without any prompting.

On our way to the basketball game Tuesday night, my dad called Luke a hot dog. I really don't know why, but he did. Luke started saying "Matt" and he said "Matt" every time my dad said "hot dog".

I could be wrong on my interpretation of this, but I don't think I am. Luke's first time eating a hot dog was last Wednesday when we were at Nate's parent's house. Nate's dad's grandfather name is Daddy Matt, but Luke calls him Matt. I can only assume that Luke was telling my dad that he ate a hot dog at Daddy Matt's house.

Luke also knows the routes we take to go a few places. When we go up to Ken Man, as soon as we cross over the bridge above 287, he starts saying, "Matt". He never says anything about seeing Daddy until we actually get to the shop, but he knows where we are going and who we will see. When we drive down Holland towards 360, he knows where the donut shop is and will always point it out and is never happy when we drive by without stopping. And then, when we get on the Tollway from I-35, he knows we're going to my parents house and starts saying "Mammie" and "Boppa" (his words for Grammie and Big Papi).

Like I said, he amazes me.

19 Months!

Luke Thomas is 19 months old today! Another month has flown by and I can't believe we are already in the year that he will turn 2. Yikes!!!

We celebrated his 19 month birthday with a trip to the Mavericks game. It was great timing that we would be offered some tickets. Luke loves basketball so we knew he would get a kick out of seeing it played live and in person.

We were right.

The second we sat down in our seats at the American Airlines Center, Luke started dancing and clapping. He sat in my lap and danced and clapped. He sat in Nate's lap and danced and clapped. He sat in my dad's lap and danced and clapped. He stood up in front of his seat and danced. He danced and clapped pretty much the entire time we were there.

Honestly, I had more fun watching Luke take in the whole experience than I did watching the game!

He really got into the game, making noise right along with the rest of the fans when the Clippers (the Mavs opponent du jour) would shoot free throws. He yelled "DE-FENSE!" with everyone, too; although it came out closer to "BA-ENSE" but I knew what he meant. He was terrified of the Mavs horse mascot dude walking around and he wanted nothing to do with the Mavs man. His favorite thing was the noise clapper that we found at our seats. He had one in each hand at all times and would clap the them together.

I'm happy to report that the Mavs won, 107-102. Although I just had to look up the score because we left midway through the third quarter because by 9:15pm, LT was just worn out.

It was a fun celebration for Luke's 19 month birthday and I'm glad we got to take him to his first NBA game (and it was my first Mavs game since they moved to the AAC).

Checking out pre-game festivities with Big Papi (he's mid-clap here):

More clapping in Mommy's lap:

Our failed attempt at a family picture - Luke wanted to look anywhere but at the camera!

Right after the game started:

Sitting in his own seat with the fan clappers:

Standing in my lap, banging his fan clappers together:

Watching the teams warm up after halftime:

What's going on over there?!

Learning to share

It's not an easy thing for a puppy to learn, but Lily is catching on pretty quickly. She is such a good girl sharing her pillow with Daisy and Luke.

Icicles

It has been a very yucky day. It's freezing cold - our thermometer on the back porch says 20 degrees but I don't think it's that cold - and it has been raining all day. Obviously it's colder than 32 degrees, though; there are icicles all over the trees! It makes for some pretty cool pictures.

New Year's Day 2009

All the cousins play together...Hayden is about to tackle Luke, Austin is about to tackle Karlee (who's feet are sticking up in the air) and Kennett is about to leap on all four of them. At least, that's what it looks like!
Luke loved playing with all the toys at Nana's house!

Karlee models her new hat.

Karlee, Kennett, Austin & Luke snack on fruit before our brunch. Luke is stuffing his face with a banana - what else is new?!

Aunt Sarah was his favorite playmate today.

Look what happened, Mom!

Off to show Kennett.

The whole family!

Top row (l-r): Heath, Matt, Nate, Bryan, Samuel
Middle row (l-r): Hannah, Rebekah, Kennett, Debbie, Becky, Luke, Melissa, Karlee, Sarah
Bottom Row (l-r): Austin, Jacob, Hayden

This one has McAfee in it, too.

Why am I still awake?

It's 9:52pm on January 1, 2009. First, how crazy is it that it's 2009?! NYE 1999 is still pretty vivid in my mind. NYE 2002 is, too, but for different reasons. ;)

I still have one more post to go before our Christmas/New Year's extravaganza with Nate's family is completely documented, but I don't know how much longer I can make coherent sentences. We stayed down in Emmett last night and Luke thought it would be a good idea to wake up for the day at 5:30 am, after I stayed up until midnight to ring in the New Year. Couple lack of sleep with a really busy past two days, and I am just exhausted.

Stay tuned for pictures from today, New Year's Day. I have a cute one of all the cousins playing. At least I think it is cute. And there is the huge family picture that I know everyone is dying to see. Let's just say it is an experience trying to get seventeen people, including two kids and three toddlers, to all look at the camera and smile at the same time. It didn't exactly happen, but we got some good pictures anyway.

With that, I will leave you all in suspense and say goodnight.

:)