Finn update

Now that Finn is 14 months I thought it was time for an update. He has changed so much even in the last two months. He's not walking yet but he's SO close. He'll stand up and just hang out for a minute without holding on to anything. It's hilarious because he'll clap for himself and checks to make sure you're watching him. He's so proud of himself. He can sometimes drink from his sippy cup all by himself (something I am really looking forward to).
He LOVES his books. Every time we get him up from his nap the first thing he does is reach for his book shelves. His favorite book is Goodnight, Moon and he loves to have it read to him and loves to hold it himself. He's been doing this for a while now but he loves to turn the pages and if he forgets and I ask him, then he'll do it.
He hates having his diaper changed. He rolls around and when I have to hold him down to finish it, he cries like I'm holding him down with barbed wire.
He also has had a big dietary change since his last genetics appointment. I wrote earlier that his protein intake jumped from 7-9g/daily to 17 g/daily and as of two weeks ago he's up to 22 g/daily. It's actually really, really challenging to get in this much protein every day without giving him high-protein foods like meat, soy, cheese, etc. He ate a whole cup of Greek yogurt the other day (11g of protein) which was awesome but now he won't have anything to do with yogurt. He loves fruit but has started getting pickier about vegetables. He does love purple hull peas, so I can tell he's a true Southerner (anyone NOT from the South even know what these are?).
He says "dada", I'm pretty sure he's saying "mama", he still says "nana" for banana, and "daca" for cracker, and he's starting to say "ow" for "out". He "talks" all day long and I can tell he has a lot to say.
Here are some photos from the zoo two weeks ago. We're members because a)it's great and b) we live so close. Every 2nd and 4th Mondays throughout the summer they have "member mornings" where members get in an hour before the zoo and can enjoy free carousel rides, an uncrowded playground (this is a really big deal) and can sometimes watch the animals being led into their habitats. It's really fun. Anyway, these photos were from our 3rd or 4th carousel ride two Wednesdays ago. Finn LOVED it and Maggie liked it but preferred the animals that don't move up and down. She was really interested in the mechanics of the carousel though.

Hipstamatic

Here are some recent photos:
Finn happy in his high chair (he must have just eaten - if he was waiting for his food you KNOW what his face would look like!)
Here's one I took of me and Maggie:
Maggie and her "BFF," Riley:

Flood update

I just realized there were two comments from my flood post that I thought I should respond to. Amy- thanks for asking but luckily their flood insurance should cover most of it (unless you know how to lay asphalt in their driveway which isn't covered!!!). They're staying with family now and are actually pretty lucky relative to lots of other people (which isn't to say that their life hasn't been completely disrupted!).
Whitney-
How nice to hear from you! Grant has been in a different office for about a year now and luckily it didn't have any damage. I didn't hear if his old office building was damaged but I'm guessing the answer is probably yes given its location. I hope your family is doing well. I bet your kids are all grown up now!!!!

Personally I've been impacted by the flood in a surprising way. I think my parents would attest to the fact that I've always been sensitive and tenderhearted. But do you know how as you get older life just gets busy and you learn to block other people out more? Well, on Wednesday Grant and I were finishing up a date and decided to get coffee at a Starbucks in a nice part of town. While we were sitting there I noticed a lady with a large suitcase with missing wheels and fraying bottom, with her head in her hands and looking completely dejected. An employee walked by and this lady asked what time they closed. I just got the feeling that she didn't have anywhere to go. At 10pm the store closed and Grant and I walked out to our car. I noticed the lady dragging this huge suitcase (again, no wheels) into the 24-hour Fed Ex store next door and something in my heart nudged me to help her. I asked Grant and he said okay so we went up to her and asked her if she needed a ride. I guess I thought she was a displaced flood victim and I thought we could help somehow. To make a long story short she said her house had been embezzled and was being investigated by the UN and she had been living at the Red Roof Inn and working odd jobs to make ends meet. The Red Roof Inn had no openings that night so she was just going to sit in Fed Ex all night. My dad has an empty apartment above his detached garage so I was thinking he would probably agree to let her stay there for the night but for some reason she was opposed. We ended up getting her in the car (and thankfully our babysitters - Grant's brother Blake and his wife Jenny - agreed to stay late with our kids) and driving around, trying to call hotels and find one that had a room and was less than $70 (all the cash she had). Eventually we found one and we took her there but of course, there was one last wrench thrown in - the room was $100 and required both a credit card and ID to book it. She said hers had been stolen. Obviously she wasn't mentally stable (that's a nice way to put it) and maybe wasn't being truthful. I don't know. We paid the difference and put the room in her name but guaranteed it with my ID and credit card. We were really nervous but at this point it just felt like too late to say, "Sorry, lady. Good luck." I called after checkout the next day and everything was fine - no additional charges. Even after all the runaround I was glad we did it and I just kept thinking about Mark 9:41 that says anyone who gives even a cup of cold water in Jesus' name will surely not lose their reward. Of course the reward is heaven and that's all I want! I guess what I'm trying to say is that the flood has helped open my heart to hurting people and people in need. And can't we all do that a little better?

More from Mother's Day

Here are some cute photos Grant took of our kids on Mother's Day. I know they're all sort of the same but I liked them all enough to post them! Hope you don't mind.

My Mother's Day

I had a pretty great Mother's Day this year. On actual Mother's Day my mom and sister and their spouses/kids came over for lunch and it was lots of fun. I told my family I think the best Mother's Day present is to have a day where you get to enjoy all the sweet parts of being a mom without having to do any of the yucky stuff- disciplining, diapers, etc. And sleeping in in the morning. Unfortunately Grant had gotten back into town very late Saturday night so I wasn't able to sleep in, so we decided to postpone our Mother's Day by one day. So on Monday morning he let me sleep in while he made a fun breakfast, plus we got to go out to lunch together and they gave me some sweet gifts. My very very favorite gifts are the two videos Grant made for me. I literally laughed and cried at each one. I had something weird happen while I was watching them - I pictured myself like how Clark Griswold is in "Christmas Vacation", sitting around, watching the video when I'm in my 50's, and crying because I can't believe that time has passed. But it wasn't depressing to me, it really just made me appreciate where I am and the age of my kids and everything they're doing right now. Even though we have our struggles I know I'll always miss these days when they're gone. I just think I have the best little family!

Mothers Day 2010 from Howardyoudoing on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Nashville's 500-Year Flood

Well, obviously if you live in Nashville and you're reading this then you know about the flooding. For those of you who live outside of Nashville there's a large chance that you've not heard ANYTHING about it, given the other big news stories this week (i.e. the bomb scare in NYC and the oil spill in the Gulf). They're saying it's the kind of thing that happens only once every 500 years. Let me just tell you...it was awful. Not for us; our house is on a hill so we were just soaked for two days straight, but our best friends suffered from flooding on Saturday, got some of that cleaned up, and then were flooded worse on Sunday. Their house was like an island in the middle of a river. Two other families we're close to had major damage as well - one had 9 feet of water in their basement, flooding their HVAC, and another family had 1 foot of water in their entire house. Many other families from our church had big problems, and thousands of families in the area lost EVERYTHING. The shelters are full, one of our two water treatment plants is flooded putting us on a water restriction, and downtown and major tourist areas (including Opryland Hotel) are flooded and will require lots of money for reconstruction, as well as loss of income while they rebuild. I've never seen anything like this. I HAVE been really, really impressed by the way Nashvillians have stepped up to help out their neighbors. I'm so thankful Grant is self-employed as he was able to give up much of the first part of this week to help our friends who needed it. I can't go to dangerous sites and clean up because of the kids but I've been able to take meals to friends. I haven't heard of any looting or rioting (I did hear of one break-in but that might have happened anyway).
(The interior of Opryland Hotel)

Yesterday we took breakfast to our best friends, the Duprees, who were the ones I mentioned earlier who got flooded twice. On our way back home Maggie asked, "Why did God make it flood and let so many of our friends' houses be ruined and people die?" It really surprised me because she's only four but I was actually really glad to start that conversation. I feel like a lot of Christians (including myself) grow up thinking that if you love Jesus and be a good person then you'll pretty much have a good life. And then when life crashes down around you as it inevitably does, your world and faith is shattered. I tried to tailor my response to a four-year-old's level and so I just said that I don't really know why God let it happen (I don't think he MADE it flood), but this world where we live isn't perfect but that's why we need Jesus to save us and one day we'll get to live in heaven where there are no floods and no sickness or death. I think she understood as well as a bright four-year-old can, but I know we'll continue this conversation for lots of years.

Anyway, please pray for everyone living in the Nashville area. It's going to take a while for my favorite city to get back to normal.