Mini Vacation

My husband is good at many things.  One thing in particular is planning short get-a-ways.  He sets a budget, saves money, searches for the best deals, and plans activities for the days.  I'm thankful for that because I'm a saver (not a spender) so I would never ever suggest spending money on a vacation as I'm simply too practical for that.  Isn't it great how God connects people who have varying strengths and weaknesses?  While my frugality is a strength in many ways, it's not when it comes to having fun and relaxing.

Anyway, James planned a short vacation (Monday - Wednesday) for us in Amana, Iowa.  It's a former German settlement area with lots of historical buildings, shopping, a water park, and Chick-fil-A close by!

And because we Lackeys can't do anything the easy way.  It was a rough beginning to our vacation.  James woke up Sunday with Poison Ivy on both hands and wrists.  We surmise that he got it that weekend while doing yard work.  Then Sunday, after bringing the Pack 'n Play up from the basement Hudson decided to pull up on it thereby pulling it on top of himself.  Those things way a ton.  I was sure he'd have a cracked rib, but he was fine.  Monday while loading the car.  I somehow didn't pull the kitchen door (leading to the garage) shut completely and Hudson pried it open and of course tumbled down the two carpeted steps leading into the garage.  There were lots of tear, not just from him.  He was fine, thankfully though you will notice a nice carpet burn on the bridge of his nose courtesy of his fall. 

Whew...after a start like that it took a while to get relaxed.  Fortunately we did and had a good time.

H was a big fan of the hotel room.  He liked opening/closing the AC.

 

He loved jumping on the plush pillows on the bed.  Such a silly boy.

 

We went to the hotel's indoor water park.  Hudson was not a fan. The water was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g and there was a lot going on - water splashing, teens having fun, changing colored lights - he never offered to cry but tensed up and held on to us for dear life. 

 

Relaxing while Daddy shops for shoes.

After 3 months of no fast food.  We indulged. 
My tummy was not happy afterward.

"Where's mine?" Hudson wants to know.

 A photo tour of the Amana Colonies - 26,000 acres.

Tuesday evening we drove to Des Moines for James to buy a weedeater (it was a good deal hence the long drive).  The mall there (Jordan's Creek) was amazing!  We ate Chick-fil-A and ColdStone for James' birthday.  The mall had a family area that included a nursing room, three (!) baby changing stations, and a nice play area.  It was a great time to let Hudson move around before we loaded him back into the car.

On the way home Wednesday, we stopped in Coralville for Chick-fil-A (again!) and Hudson enjoyed his first carousel.

All-in-all, we had a great time.  Thankful for a few days to get away.

To Glorify God

and enjoy him forever.”  That is the purpose of man, according to the Westminster Catechism. 

The Lord was kind to teach me (yet another) lesson in glorifying him this week. 

I went into town to go to the grocery store.  Afterwards, I stopped to fill up the gas tank because when you live in the middle of nowhere you never pass up a gas station.  I only had cash, so I had to prepay.  In line I was behind a sweet African-American lady.  I only mention this fact because out here I have for real only seen 2 people with brown skin in the 3 months I’ve lived here - it’s very strange and very white.  Suddenly she turned around and said, “I don’t mean to bother you, but could I ask you something….” 

“Do you have spina bifida?”  Now I get asked this question or something similar quite often as I wrote about recently on my friend Kate’s blog.  I must confess that as a child/teen/young adult I was not kind to those who asked me this.  I’d give curt answers, sarcastic answers, etc…but as I’ve aged I’ve lightened up about it and am open to talking about my stupid spine.

So, I answer the lady’s question.  She responds with, “Oh I just wondered because my 6-year-old granddaughter has spina bifida and she can’t walk yet and I just wanted to know if there was any hope for her.”

Right at that exact moment, the cashier taking our money for the fuel needed the grandma’s attention.  Thankfully the Lord prompted me to pray and I had about 90 seconds to pray and prepare for how to answer her. 

As she turned around I was able to tell her about hope.  Hope that her daughter, regardless of ability to walk, could have a good life.  I told her about my childhood spent with wonderful friends and family.  I told her about the blessing my education - a master’s degree, no less.  I told her about my husband.  I told her about my sweet, sweet baby.  My perfectly healthy 13-month-old son whom I was blessed to carry and deliver and now parent.  Most importantly, I was able to tell her about how all of this was the direct result of the kindness and faithfulness of Jesus. I wasn’t able to give a complete gospel presentation because the cashier needed me to pay for my gas so the line could keep moving, but I was able to get in most of my personal testimony.

With her eyes tearing up, she thanked me and was gone. 

To glorify God. 

Last week, I was invited to a “healing service” at a local charismatic/Pentecostal church.  I respectfully declined.  It’s not that I don’t think that God can/could heal me.  I am 100% confident in the Lord’s ability to do so.  That said I am equally confident in that I do not think it is the Lord’s will to do so.  Call me crazy, but I think the Lord receives more glory in my limping around than he would if I was healed.  You see, in my limping around, I stand out - I garner attention.  That attention affords me the opportunity to share the wonderful news of Christ with others that I simply wouldn’t have if I was “normal.”

Now, this is not to say God wouldn’t be glorified had I been healed.  But it’s more of a reflection of me. I know me.  I know how fiercely independent I am.  I fear that had the Lord healed me, no one would ever know because I, in my sinful pride, wouldn’t share about it.  I know people whom the Lord has healed from diseases or delivered from sinful lifestyles who bring him tremendous glory so I say this not to belittle their ministry.  It’s awesome when God does miraculous things.  But it’s also awesome when God doesn’t heal but gives daily strength and grace to simply thrive. 

Now I should have taken the opportunity to share this testimony with the sweet charismatic/Pentecostal lady who invited to this "healing service" but I was annoyed at her invitation and simply said, "no thank you."  Just being transparent lest anyone think I've arrived.  I have so far to go y'all.

Overall though I’m thankful that this is one way I can glorify God.  And I am thankful that the Lord has disciplined me to the point that I can be mostly thankful for this (dis)ability to glorify to him.

I asked the Lord three times to take it away from me. He answered me, “I am all you need. I give you My loving-favor. My power works best in weak people.” I am happy to be weak and have troubles so I can have Christ’s power in me.  I receive joy when I am weak. I receive joy when people talk against me and make it hard for me and try to hurt me and make trouble for me.

I receive joy when all these things come to me because of Christ.

For when I am weak, then I am strong. -- 1 Corinthians 12:8-10

Garden Update

It's been a while since I've updated about our garden, so here we go!

This was my view out the kitchen window this evening as I cooked dinner.  James weeding and Hudson digging - so precious.

 

After dinner, I went out to join them.  James was hoeing out weeds and I was in charge of raking them away.  Hudson, he was in charge of being cute!

 

Playing in the garden naked is how Hudson works!

Note the dirt around his mouth.  I had just fed him dinner, too!

Our veggies are growing!

We have about 6 watermelon plants sprouting.

There's a whole hill of carrots about 5 feet long.

Beans, beans good for your heart....

The sunflowers are by far growing the best.  Figures since we can't eat them. 
Well I guess we can eat the seeds!



Okra

 

 

Corn

Meanwhile while I'm raking away weeds and rocks, Hudson's having his own fun in the Southwest corner.


There was a crazy wind storm Sunday afternoon. 

Our yard is littered with corn stalks from the farm behind us.

 

See the hole?  Apparently Mr. Mole understands the first rule of real estate (location, location, location) as his home is about a foot from the Northeast corner of our garden.

 

 

Soon it was time to go inside and straight to the bathtub!

 

 

 

Operation: Chub

Hudson is definitely a slender boy.  Born at 20 inches but only 6 pounds, 4 ounces he's always been a long and lean baby.  Apparently pediatricians expect babies to triple their birth weight by their first birthday meaning that Hudson should have weighed 18.75 pounds at his recent check up.  He was only 17.8; a little less than a pound shy. 

First time self-feeding with a spoon.

 

 

His new pediatrician, Dr. C., wasn't overly concerned.  If you look at Hudson he doesn't "look" skinny with his chubby cheeks (both sets - haha).  But to be thorough Dr. C. went ahead and ran a complete metabolic and endocrine blood screen just to make sure there was nothing medical behind his poor weight gain.  Praise the Lord that all his levels (iron, thyroid, blood sugar, etc...) came back within the normal range.

That said, we have initiated Operation: Chub.  Dr. C. suggested putting him on the "Paula Deen" diet - basically slathering his food with butter and other healthy fats to increase his caloric intake. 

Enjoying a before bed snack of strawberries.

I'm doing baby-led weaning so Hudson is still nursing 2-3 times a day.  Basically, I don't offer but don't refuse when it comes to nursing.  We've introduced cow's milk which he will drink sporadically. Though to be honest, if it's chocolate milk he'll gulp it down like a Bedouin coming out of the desert.  He loves peanut butter and cheese, thankfully as both as good sources of protein and iron (and fat, too!).  He is obsessed with fruit and eats several serving a day: avocadoes, bananas, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries are his favorites. 

Speaking of avocados...check out this recipe for making chocolate pudding from avocados.  It's awesome.  James has eaten it twice and was none the wiser until he saw some green specks in Hudson's bowl.  Even then, he didn't believe me that his pudding was made with simply avocados, honey, cocoa, and milk.  It's that good people, thanks Kara!

I'm also making him eat more often.  Rather than just three meals - we're doing more like 5 meals.  The three traditional plus two in-between snacks, sometimes three. 

All in all, I think it's working.  I weighed him today, two weeks since his one-year check up, and according to our scales, he's up to 18.6 pounds - that's almost a pound heavier! 

In reality, I'm not too worried about his weight.  First off, the little boy never.stops.moving.  Seriously people, from the moment he awakes until he's asleep he's on the go.  I think he's just expending more energy than he's taking in.  Secondly, both James and I were skinny kids.  James was thin until he had his tonsils removed and suddenly could eat well!  I didn't even break 100 pounds until college and really didn't weigh anything significant until I hit 30 and my metabolism went on vacation.  Chances are, that'll be Hudson's lot in life as well. 

So as we try to instill good food habits, does anyone have any tried and true tips, suggestions, advice??

This picture has nothing to do with food. 
But, is anything cuter than a wee babe sleeping with his bum in the air? 
I think not.

The Birthday Party

Everyone here is asleep, but me.  Seriously... Hudson is asleep.  James is asleep.  Why am I awake?  Sigh. But since I am, enjoy pictures from Hudson's First Birthday Party!

It was a "Mustache Bash!"  We had mustache decorations, mustache games (Pin the 'Stache on Hudson and Guess that 'Stache), stick on mustache stickers, and mustache ring pops.

Hudson's cake that took three attempts.

 

I tried in vain to make a white cake.  Each time it turned out yellow.  I followed the directions; carefully separating the egg yolks and whites.  Who knows? After trying for a third time, I gave up and he had a yellow-white cake.

 

Don't laugh at my cake decorating skills.  I have zero talents when it comes to cake decorating.

But I am semi-talented at onesie-making.  Here's Hudson's onesie I made for him for his birthday party.

 

If you're wondering why he looks so sad.  I had just put his tray of food on his highchair and thought, "I should get a picture of his onesie before he dirties it up."  So this was his reaction to me taking away his food.  Poor kid, you'd think we never feed him.

 

 

 



 A while back, I found pictures and cards from my first birthday party.  On a card my Mom had written, "I made Melissa a yellow cake with sour cream icing.  She wouldn't touch it, seemed afraid of it.  We gave her a small bowl of ice cream which she wouldn't eat."  Turns out Hudson is my kid after all, even if he is James' doppelganger.  He barely touched his cake.  Poked at it a few times, licked it once, but never ate any of it.  That's OK, though - he's got plenty of time to develop a sweet tooth.

Present Time!

Nothing runs like a deer!

That face!

With sweet Richie.
 

 We had several houseguests in town for Hudson's birthday!

First cousins, Andrew and Angela.

"Aunt" Kay

Grandaddy

Grandma and Angel

 

 

All in all, Hudson had a wonderful birthday. 

 

I must confess that when the Lord called us to Missouri I did worry about his first birthday (how silly of me!).  My fear was that no one would care.  I mean, we've only been here a mere two months.  My friends in Louisville have known me for years.  Most were there when James and I got married, prayed with us through the bout with infertility, rejoiced with us when we finally got pregnant, and loved on Hudson for the ten months of his life we lived in Louisville.  Our friends here in Missouri simply don't have that history with us. 

 

But you know what?  It didn't matter.  So, so many people came out to love on our sweet boy.  That, my friends, is what the body of Christ does.  It doesn't matter if they've known you for two decades or two months - brothers and sisters in Christ are brothers and sisters in Christ.  So thankful for our sweet church family and how the Lord has given Hudson so many surrogate grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

 

EDITED TO ADD: Oh and those sweet Louisville friends?  Well, they didn't forget Hudson's birthday either!  He got so many cards, gifts, emails, and phone calls from our friends back in Kentucky wishing him a "Happy Birthday!"  Such a special day!



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