Look Out Elliott

You know, all of the child psychologists and baby books tell you not to bother comparing your child to other children. It will lead to unnecessary disappointment or unrealistic confidence. However, I couldn't help but post this recent picture of Carson, which reminded me of a recent picture posted by my BFF's the P-jaks. Now, I know Elliott has been reading "Seven Seasons of the Man in the Mirror," but as you can see, Carson is really working on restoring his spiritual passion, and he's only 8 months old. (Not to mention the PD Life in the background. Please ignore Bridget Jones.) Maybe our godly young men will someday attend Corban college together. You know, now that they took "Baptist" out of the name. I KID!

TJ's Everyday

Several years ago, my mom told me about something she read. It said that one should try to find small delights everyday...things that make you smile. The author called them TJ's: Tiny Joys. So, since then, she and I have often shared with each other a "TJ" that we had experienced. (Sidebar: this acronym was truly challenged for me last year when I had a student named TJ who embodied the negative aspects of Dennis the Menace, Sid fom Toy Story, and Willie AND Nellie Olsen from "Little House On the Prairie." I kid you not.) Since having Carson, he gives us so many TJ's everyday that it's impossible to even count. My favorite today was when he sat next to me on the couch chattering away happily to himself with all kinds of chitchat and playing with the newspaper. You don't realize what a wonderful thing this is! He was PLAYING with the paper, not trying to EAT the paper. Moments like this so far outweigh the TF's (tiny frustrations) and MF's (major frustrations) it's not even close. Here's some recent pictures of the boy on the go. Couldn't love him more.

Bath Time

Water is an interesting element, and it is so fun to watch a little (almost) 8 month old comprehend its characteristics. What is this getting in my face when I slap my hands vigorously up and down? Why can't I grab that long stream they keep putting right in front of me? But the biggest question is....why do I have to put my clothes back on?

Shades & Socks

Here are a couple more pics of Carson. They, too, are about a month old. I love the one with sunglasses from Aunt Tara.


This Auntie is our shoe queen--she likes to supply Carson with all the latest adorable and trendy shoes. I love it! I find I have the most trouble with Little C's socks. His entire outfit for the day is determined by which sock I can find that a)has a matching partner and b)doesn't look like an anklet or c)doesn't come off in five minutes. If I ever start a baby line of clothes, the first thing I will make is some good socks!

That black guy with big puffy cheeks

If that title doesn't get you to read this post, I don't know what would. I was SO excited about how many people commented on my dog conspiracy theory. I truly didn't know that many people check up on me every once in a while. I love you guys! Then I started getting sentimental and thinking of songs (as I do when I get sentimental) and thought of several, including "What a wonderful world" I think it's called. You know, someone sings a boring version of it on American Idol each year. "I see trees of green, red roses too, yada, yada...." Then I realized, I don't really know the title of the song. Obviously, I don't really know the lyrics. I don't really know who sings it. I thought it was a cute, rotund, older black guy. Armstrong? Louie Armstrong? Which reminded me of Lance Armstrong or some other Louie who is a rotund WHITE guy who doesn't sing but does off-colored comedy. (And something about a cartoon version?) Perhaps I should have called this post "Stream of consciousness." Anyway, back to the black singer guy: is he the same one who plays trumpet and puffs his cheeks WAY out? I only remember him because he had a cameo on The Cosby Show one time. All this to say: I love you guys! Oh, and because we still don't have the camera in our posession to post pics of Carson, here is an older pic because no one should go long without looking at my cute baby.


This is when Trent zerberts his tummy and his face of horror soon turns into major giggles.

Conspiracy Theory

First of all, good news: the camera has been found. FYOOSH.

Seconldy, a very wise man is coming to our church this weekend to talk about the fallacies of the DaVinci Code. Trent and I decided we would both read the book before that message so we could comment on it with some authority. I'm about halfway through and I just got to the part that I think is most objectionable to Christians and Catholics: Jesus was not the Son of God, just a nice guy who had a child with Mary Mag, the Bible is just some stories put together by the church to cover this up, etc. It made my toes curl and my jaw was set pretty tight...it seemed to go on and on and on. But as a Christian, it is obvious to me that this is fiction. I can see why there would be problems if this was "taught" or pronounced as truth. To be honest, I haven't been that impressed with the book from a literary aspect anyway. I've found myself getting a little bored at times. In my opinion the author has an overly loquacious way of describing every little symbol and room and piece of furniture. I skip ahead half a page and nothing's happened in the plot. I'm interested to hear what Dr. Lawson says about it.

But onto more trivial conspiracy theories, I am convinced that dogs send a telepathic message to each other to warn them about people who don't like dogs--ie: me.* We just got new neighbors and they have a dog who likes to bark when I have had no sleep and can finally take a 30 minute nap. Grrrr. My camping friends can testify to the time a stray dog came to our fire on the beach, and out of several blankets, coats and chairs to choose from, this dog peed directly on MY sweatshirt. I think they are all in cahoots.

*Disclaimer: I almost always love dogs that belong to people that I love, ie: Lilly, Sunny, Maddie, Riley, Molly. (Do all dogs end with the "ee" vowel?)