Our Fifth Anniversary

Five whole years!  Five years since our lovely wedding day.  The days between have been filled in ways beyond our imaginations . . . three pregnancies, but only two happy births.  Much more materially than we need, and a burglary to remind us that it's not really ours.  Dozens of road trips to NY, a few to West Virginia, family vacations in Florida, a week in California and three(!!!) trips to Europe!  One Thanksgiving and one Christmas spent at our home on Cottage Lane because of babies being born, and those two holidays were two of my favorites of all time.  Cuddles and kisses and lots of wrestling with our two energetic little girls, and many doctor's visits of varied urgency because we have one child with asthma, and, as we discovered in recent months, another child with a rare genetic condition!

How good our loving Father has been to us.

For posterity's sake, I'd like to share how we celebrated our fifth.  :)  We've always said, "when Jenni gets married, then we'll go to Ireland!" and she finally did meet her husband and got married just a few weeks ago!  So, we spent two weeks on that beloved island celebrating with them and rekindling dear friendships, and since we were returning on July 23, we considered it sort of an anniversary trip, as well.  Still, on our acutal anniversary on the 25th, our friend Becca sweetly offered to babysit for us at the last minute, so we enjoyed our happy tradition of dinner at Outback in my honeymoon dress.  :)  We ended up ordering a handsome print of an old engraving of Rome as a present to ourselves, and plan to get it framed and hang it in our dining room.  And it seems like we just keep celebrating and celebrating, since we still haven't given each other our cards, and plan to this evening!  

Really soon, I want to write the rest of this post . . . maybe tomorrow.  :)  Welcome back, blog!

Business trip, Ikea trip

When my sweetheart told me that business was going to take him to Charlotte for a few days and that we could all come along, I was excited! There's an Ikea in Charlotte! And maybe we would stay at a hotel with a pool, and I could take the babies swimming!

We got up bright and early on a Tuesday morning and loaded the little ones into their carseats in their jammies. A few hours later, we dropped John off at his work site and stopped at a McDonald's to get some breakfast and regroup. (Their oatmeal is pretty good!) Getting two ornery girlies out of the car, into the restaurant, changed, dressed, and fed (and, of course, someone also wanted to use the potty like mommy!) was admittedly a challenge. But soon the phone GPS was guiding us to Ikea, which was only a few minutes away!

Lately it seems like I get to visit an Ikea store about once a year. When we drove around Europe in September, it seemed like we passed one almost as frequently as we pass Walmart here! It was crazy! We didn't stop at any because we had very limited room in our bags and a loose schedule to keep, but it certainly was enlightening!

Walking into Ikea can be kind of magical, can't it? I had a short list of things to look for and decided to start downstairs to get the little things out of the way before my big girl became too overwhelmed and tired. This turned out to be a good strategy, since she didn't seem to realize it was any different from an ordinary store until we went upstairs...

Someone liked this bed a lot!  She was also happily occupied with the play-kitchens while I picked out some neat toys to save for Christmas.

I didn't realize until we got there that Tuesday is kids-eat-free-day! Gemma got her own plate of macaroni and cheese and steamed veggies for free while I enjoyed mushroom crepes and a cream cake. And Ruthie obligingly slept in the cart...

It wasn't all roses, though! Ruthie woke up soon enough, and I regretted having left my carrier in the car. Gemma was a bit too distracted by spilling her milk bottle everywhere to eat much (though this nursing mom was happy to finish her food!). They didn't have the duvet I had been eyeing online in the size we needed, and then somebody REALLY didn't want to leave this little "room"...

"She loves it! You have to get it for her!" said a lady passing by. Ahem, thanks... But I was almost as sad as Gemma to leave behind this lovely head and footboard which would certainly not fit into our Honda Civic....

Friends, it was $19! That's practically garage-sale pricing, or better! I also loved this patio set...

I texted the picture to John, and it might have fit into our car, but he advised me to wait this time. Finally, I wheeled two sleepy girls through the checkout line, discovering that the bathroom stool had fallen out of the cart somewhere along the way. Sad. And apparently the cute receiving blankets I found were for display only, and the lady at the desk couldn't sell them to me. Well.

We finished and found the hotel after getting permission over the phone for an early check-in. Both girlies fell asleep in the car...I carried Ruthie up to our room, gently placed her on the bed hedged in by pillows, and ran back to the car for Gemma. Up up up the elevator...and the key didn't work! Back down to the desk with Gemma over my shoulder to have it fixed. Back up the elevator, it worked this time, and I gently placed Gemma on the other bed. But the spell was broken and she awoke. Little sister soon followed suit. 

But the good news was that the hotel DID have a pool!  After a quick run to Walmart for a floatie vest for Gemma, the three of us suited up and headed down. The water smelled heavily of chlorine, but was lovely. Though big sister was too shy to venture in, Baby Ruth thoroughly enjoyed being bobbed around for a while!   And afterward, when I laid Ruthie on a lounge chair to dry off Gemma's feet and remove her vest, Gemma ran over, bent down to Ruthie and sweetly smiled in her face...

It was a day full of challenges, but very fun challenges for the most part. Soon we heard from John, got back into dry clothes and drove to pick him up for a yummy dinner at Macaroni Grill. :)

Ruthie screamed a lot that night.

And the next morning, after we ate breakfast and dropped John off again, we went back to Ikea for the bathroom stool. :) We passed the rest of the morning finding shorts and socks for John at Marshall's and eating lunch and playing at Chick-Fil-A. 

Gemma DID nap on the drive home that afternoon. And that is the end of the story of our annual Ikea trip. :)

Spring is for Painting

It was in the spring of last year that we finally painted our room and our master bathroom!  The rest of the year was busy with all our traveling and having a new baby, and I'm actually more surprised than not that we've gotten any painting done this spring.  I guess it helps that John did most of it.  ;)

John, especially, has been wanting to give the living room a little deeper color, and since it flows into the entry, stairway and upstairs landing, it seemed that we had to paint those, as well.  The walls were also pretty badly marked in places, so it looks much better (though, to be honest, we still haven't filled in all the little dings on the way up the stairs). The straw that broke the camel's back was our new thermostat.  When we replaced our heating system and thermostat last winter, we discovered a square of plum-colored paint hiding behind the old thermostat. The new one didn't cover the dark square, so we had a large paint chip sitting on top of our new thermostat to camoflage it while we waited to paint. (I can't imagine painting such a large room such a dark color!)

    Upstairs hall before

    Upstairs hall after

How do you choose paint colors?  I usually pick out a few marked "historical" in the general colors I'm leaning toward.  We settled pretty quickly on "Homestead Resort Parlor Taupe," but it was a Valspar color, and I asked the people in Lowe's to color-match it to Olympic paint.  I didn't realize painting could be happily low VOC and practically odorless until I tried Olympic!

Well, that is the beginning of a bit of a saga . . . 

One Monday evening while the girlies were in bed and John was at choral society, I decided to surprise him by getting started on the entryway. I tried to use a paint machine we'd been given but hadn't used yet, but I couldn't get it to work and ended up rolling the old-fashioned way.  I was hesitant about how dark the color looked! But it was what we had chosen, right? A day or two later, John got started on some touch-ups and even after they had dried, the touch-ups were lighter than th rest of the walls. Argh! John had gotten the paint machine working and concluded that the apparent mis-tint must have been due to water backing up into the can from the paint machine. He went out to get two new gallons of fresh paint. He even called me from the store to ask what sheen I had chosen (eggshell, by the way). 

Much to our dismay, the new paint didn't match either of the two tones in the walls! And then we realized that John had bought the actual Valspar instead of having it color-matched to Olympic. As it dried, we realized that it was exactly the same color as the paint chip obscuring that plum square over the thermostat, and the man behind the counter at Lowe's had just done a poor job at the color-matching. So, beware of color-matching to a different brand! And we just had to deal with smelly paint. We opened lots of windows and I took the babies out for a while.

The finished product is subtly different, but it looks much cleaner!

     View of Living Room after

Here's the entry before, looking in from the green front door (which I'd love to paint black!). You can see the laundry room straight ahead and the stairs down to the living room on the left. 

Here's the entry after, looking up from the living room stairs. I found that tall mirror in Gemma's closet after stashing it there when we did the nursery and forgetting about it. John hung it a few weeks ago and it's just perfect for the space! It brings in some light to a dark corner and lends some presence to the entry. It kind of reminds me of those mirror/hatstand combinations you see in old Victorian homes.

And guess what! We replaced the boring brass light fixture, too!  Several months ago, Mom asked me if I had a place for a chandelier, and I said "Yes! I have places for about THREE chandeliers!" One man's trash is another man's treasure...this one came out of an apartment she was helping to redo. The previous fixture left a too-large hole in the ceiling, but we found the little medallion at Lowe's which saved us from having to patch it. 

I'd also really love to hang a collage of frames on the walls up and down the stairs, but one thing at a time! It is great fun to see little changes which you've been picturing actually happening!

Have you been painting anything lately?

Easter at Uncle's

A couple of weekends ago, we traveled down to spend the weekend with Derek and Liz.  We had a really great time spending Saturday at a local park, Sunday at their church and just hanging out at their apartment with them!  Predictably, we didn't even think to bring the camera, but caught several memories on the iphone.  And, predictably, most of them are of our girlies!  But, here you go!

We did get one photo of Liz, demonstrating how their pup, Angus, hates to be held.  Angus is just a cute, happy, miniature version of my parents deceased dog, Harvey.  And he has a great "mommy and daddy," too.  

Derek and Liz have a beautiful, big swingset behind their apartment, which is almost more like a playground! This time, Gemma loved the tire swing.  The first time we took her out was on Friday night as dusk was falling, which is why this photo is so dark.  She attempted to go back more than once by herself--she and Angus are both little runaways!  (Thankfully, they were both pretty easy to fetch back home!)

After putting the babies to bed, Derek and John went out to watch the Duke game while Liz and I stayed in and watched Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightly version).  It was fun to have some girl time.  

After getting up bright and early with the babies, Liz made us a yummy breakfast of eggs, pancakes and fruit and we got ready to head over to a local park for some hotdog roasting and a wee bit of hiking.  Gemma got to try her first smore!

But the highlight of the weekend was really Sunday.  I had been looking forward to visiting their church for a while, because they're attending the the PCA church where Pastor Hughes, my shepherd throughout college, "retired" to as the assistant pastor.

We felt right at home among our presbyterian brethren, and appreciated how welcoming they are of children into the services.  Our girls both did remarkably well, though John took Gemma to the nursery for parts of the sermons.  Everyone was so kind to us, and we really liked their head pastor, as well.  We celebrated communion with them, had a meal together in the afternoon, and came away just being quite encouraged through the preaching by the love of Christ for us.

It was Easter, but Derek had alerted us that this church ignores the holiday more than most do, so I left Gemma's hat at home this year.  It was exciting that she still fits into the little sweater made by Mrs. Kirby, though!  In fact, I think she fit it better this year than last.

When I prepared the girls' dresses before leaving home, I couldn't help but reflect on how kindly and abundantly God has provided for us.  Gemma was in a little Therese jumper and blouse and Ruthie's dress is by Ralph Lauren . . . and both were given to us.  In fact, they were both in hand-made sweaters given to us as well.  And the thing is, we could afford to go out to Target and buy them each a new spring dress . . . but we didn't have to.  Even the tights, shoes, and hair accessories were given to us!

"I'm three months old!"

Family self-portrait . . . not so great . . . Gemma's braids were on top of her head when we left that morning, but they didn't last long that way.  ;)

There's Ruthie's sweater in the background . . . truly precious!  And that was our weekend with Derek and Liz.  Oh, there was also some candy in a basket involved.  ;)  We are conscious of how blessed we are to have them stationed near us, and have to try to soak them up for as long as they are so close!

My Jethros

"Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone." Exodus 18:17-18

All the family birth visits are over, and we've been on our own as a little family of four for a few weeks now.  It is tiring, but we are loving it!  We'd stocked up on some disposable newborn diapers for the early days, but I was excited to get my girls into cloth once again--and for the first time, in Ruth's case.  :)

It's a good thing that I enjoy laundry, because there is so much now!  It's funny how just one new little person can make that job so mountainous.  I love it, though--I love hanging the diapers out in the sunshine while Ruth sleeps in the Moby wrap and Gemma runs around the yard.  I love making pancakes on my new cast iron skillet, and having homemade muffins around to snack on.  I love sipping tea and reading to my girlies on the couch.  There are many, many things to treasure about this season.

My Mom and sister are wonderful.  Besides John, they're my best friends and favorite people to talk with on the phone.  Lately, though, they've both been giving me advice like Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, gave to him.  "Are you sure you're ready for cloth diapers?" and "if both babies are sleeping, why aren't you sleeping?"  

It's a little difficult to take Mom's advice very seriously.  She had two in cloth diapers, and didn't have a weekly "Thai night" to give her a break from cooking.  She had a baby with colic!  She had to iron Dad a shirt every day, while my husband stays home with me!  Somehow she kept her cookie jar stocked with homemade cookies.She also wore herself out . . . but not until she had three little ones.  

Surely, they're just saying these things because they love me, and that's what you're supposed to say to a mother of a newborn.

But, as our house got dirtier and our freezer stash of meals started dwindling, I started re-thinking some of my priorities.  I appreciate the financial and environmental aspects of cloth diapering, as well as putting my babies in fewer chemicals, but John has assured me more than once that he's willing to pay for disposable diapers.  And I'm not exactly blessing him by making muffins when they're almost exclusively for me.  Gemma likes them and he'll eat one out of courtesy, but I did not marry a muffin-man.  And, perhaps the time has come for simpler breakfasts while I spend more time cleaning the house, which does bless him.  

For a few weeks, I'm taking a break from social mediia and simplifying home life while endeavoring to get our priorities back in order.  In the grand scheme, it's more important for Gemma to see her mommy reading her Bible than baking, and certainly more important than scrolling through facebook!  



Thanks be to God for my Jethros . . . and for our little ones who make them necessary.  :)

(photos by Madeline Christoph Photography, artismad.com)

Garden-Bed Christmas Tree, Number 3

It's ok if you laugh . . . I don't know of any other suburban family who habitually cut their Christmas tree from their garden bed!  We also have no idea how two fast-growing pines were growing in this garden bed to begin with, but they have been very convenient!  Here's John cutting our first Christmas tree in 2009.  In 2010 we didn't put up a tree because Gemma had just been born and then we left town for New York.  Last year, we cut the second tree, and I thought that it would be our last free tree . . . but branches from the 2009 tree grew back quite splendidly, and so the tradition continues!

Sizing it up . . . 

Hmm, this little piece?

Daddy's little helper . . . 

The tree, and its conqueror!  

(and I think there's a smudge on our camera lens!)

(Yes, definitely a smudge . . . )

As it turns out, it's our tallest tree yet!  It works wonderfully with our very high ceilings in the living room!

Thanks to our families, we have many pretty and special ornaments now.  

Six of our nest wedding favors made it home with us, so I stuck them in the tree.  They need candy or something . . . hmm.

With family coming to us this year, it does feel a bit more like Christmas and less like we're just pretending.  :)

Happy Election Day!

We walked around the pond and over the hill to our polling place today . . . one of the benefits of neighborhood living.  :)

I like how many people are using Facebook to list one item they are thankful for each day for the month of November. . . . it has been helping me to be thinking about what I'm thankful for throughout each day.  And today I am very thankful for the privilege we have to vote.  

Whew, it was a busy weekend and Monday, though.  I think I could use the entire rest of the week to get our house cleaned and in order!  

3 Years Ago

Three years we have been married . . . and I thought you might like to read a bit of an insider's-view of our wedding day.  :)  That is, the whole day, including behind the scenes, from the perspective of the bride!

My brother and I drove home from the rehearsal dinner on Friday, June 24, 2009, and I was in a tizzy of excitement.  It had been a busy day of rushing around town, purchasing coffee and creamer for the reception, plus flowers for my make-your-own-toss-bouquet, but everything culminated in our very organized rehearsal (thanks to our pastor!), and the lovely romantic rainy steak dinner in John's parents' backyard.  Tomorrow was THE day!  

I still had to pack for the honeymoon, so I was rushing about working on that, and trying to keep both John's things and mine to a single carry-on, while my bridesmaids chatted and did their nails.  By about 1 a.m., we all decided to go to bed, ready or not, and my nails would just have to get done in the morning.

I slept in my sister's room with her that night, and awoke around 7 for my hair appointment at 8.  I don't remember if I had any real devotions besides praying in the shower, as was my habit.  I slipped into a snap-up shirt and my dear friends insisted I eat breakfast--of course, I'm not the type ever to skip breakfast!

It was a 10-15 minute drive to town for the hair appointment, and I thought that we would have plenty of time to get ready for our 11:00 wedding.  (I think the girls were all supposed to arrive at 10:30 or earlier for pictures.)  Unfortunately, I threw the hair-dresser a curve ball by telling her that I had re-thought the style she  had loosely put together at the trial two weeks earlier.  Tears started to spring to my eyes when I saw how "big" she was teasing it around my head, so she combed it down until I was happier.  9:00 came and brought the florist to the salon, who dropped off the spray roses I'd requested for my hair (I didn't even get to see her!) and still my hair was not done.  

Finally, I left and drove home, fighting back tears.  Ahhh.  It just wasn't like I had envisioned my wedding hair to be . . . and I arrived home where my bridesmaids were all happily getting ready together, and their hair wasn't quite like I had envisioned it, either.  One tried to comfort me with "Just think--in a few hours, it will all be over, and you'll be heading off on your honeymoon!" but it just made me cry harder, because I had been so looking forward to this big day which we'd been planning in minute detail for nine and a half months.

Now we were crunched for time, too, since it was a half-hour drive to the church and it was already around 10.  The girls energetically attacked me--one painting my finger and toe nails, one starting to put makeup on my face and dear, calm Leah started fixing my hair.  I remember when Jenni started to put something that looked like foundation on my face, and I reacted with a "WAIT!  What is that stuff?"  

"It's very light, Gretch.  My auntie with the ginger hair wears it."  

"Ok!"  

And then someone started trying to put eye-liner on me, and I bristled, "Can Sarah do it?"  (We do our eyeliner similarly.)  ;-)

Quietly, Mom and Dad ushered one, then two carloads of bridesmaids out the door while Leah and I finished preparation.  We slipped on my dress, and I immediately regretted not making a bigger fuss about how low-cut it had turned out at the final fitting.  Mom hurriedly ran to find some lace.  Something borrowed.  Much better.  Except that I wished I had had that bow removed, too . . . oh well.  It was still gorgeous, and it was my primary something new.  

I had no idea what time it was, but Leah assured me that a princess is never late :) and that the wedding would wait for us.  I took a deep breath, rubbed off a bunch of the plum eyeshadow that looked so foreign on my face, and we headed down to the car with my parents.

It was actually a blessing, I think, that we had a half-hour drive to relax before starting the wedding itself.  Dad's phone rang and Mom picked it up, telling someone our ETA of noon.  (I found out later that it was John himself and I was sorry that I didn't get to talk with him!)  But the rest of the drive was peaceful.  It was half an hour of country roads, and I breathed, prayed, quietly sang some hymns to myself, and told myself that it would all be OK as soon I was holding John's hand.

Our amateur photographer greeted our car and got some neat shots of Mom and Heidi putting on my veil and giving me the bouquet.  Another friend hurried to find John, who had my earrings.  He'd been to the jeweler the day before to get our wedding bands engraved, my engagement ring cleaned, and my earring fixed, but the earrings had been forgotten until now.  Something old.

Soon, we all processed up the sidewalk to the church.  I took in the loveliness of my roses and Queen Anne's Lace, pausing to pull out a gaudy rhinestone cross pick and thoughtlessly toss it on the ground.  Next we went to the church basement, aka "holding pen," where my mom-in-law-to-be had been entertaining the ten little ones who were supposed to walk the aisle.  I mildly panicked when I realized that none of the flower girls had the wreaths Heidi and I had spent hours crafting or their baskets.  We were being pressured to begin the wedding without them, but thankfully someone ran to the nursery building across the parking lot to get the box where we'd left them.  (I think it actually took two trips, since the building was locked!)

Finally, we began.  The cream carpet was rolled in and the bridesmaids filed in to Handel's "Largo" from the opera Xerxes (a piece I'd sung in high school for NYSSMA).  Then the trumpet sounded, played by a former math student, and he and the piano triumphantly began Patrick Doyle's "Non Nobis Domine," as taken from the movie Henry V.  The sweet little flower girls took their turns sauntering down the aisle and dropping dried lavender each in her own way.  Next came the little ring bearer, who was actually carrying the rings in a little wooden box. 

At last the music climaxed, and Dad and I stepped through the double doors.  The congregation rose in droves and tears sprang to my eyes again, but they were happy tears this time.  John waited, smiling at the other end, and so many of my dear friends and family beamed at us as we regally marched.  It was everything I had dreamed, and I tried to take in every moment. 

I had been right; as soon as I was holding John's hand, everything was better.  From then on, the ceremony went smoothly as we sang the hymns John had requested, enjoyed the quiet moments of his pastor's short sermon, and feelingly repeated the vows we had painstakingly written for each other.  I remember listening to the sermon and thinking, "please include the gospel . . . please include the gospel . . . excellent, yes! . . .wow . . . excellent!"

Early in our engagement, John had declared to me his intention not to kiss me until our wedding day.  It was to be my first kiss ever, and as the vows concluded and our pastor was giving us a charge, John and I locked eyes and realized the big moment was about to come.  

It was the softest, sweetest, most wonderful thing ever.  :)

We were man and wife!  We all sang "Non Nobis Domine," then, and even the little ones sang as best they could:

*Smile*

His Projects, Her Projects

Besides painting, we've been doing several little house projects here and there lately.

John's been wiring the house for speakers (and chopping holes in the ceiling when necessary!)

And, as you can see if you look at the windows, a few weeks ago I spray-painted the brassy dining room curtain rods dark brown, as part of my goal for the whole house.  :)

Thankfully, the holes in the ceiling got patched up in time for a bridal shower we hosted on Saturday!  That's what the tiered stands on the table are from!  Hopefully you'll hear some more about that soon!

The living room got an entirely new curtain rod which I found for a little less than normal at Big Lots several months ago now, and some of the same Simply Shabby Chic panels from Target which we have (and love) in our bedroom.

We left the middle of the rod bare for a few days, but agreed that it needed something, so we put the homemade valance back up in the middle for now.  I'm still not sure about it.  While I like the fabric of the valance, it came out a little too 90's-country-clutter-looking, I think.  

I am sure that I like the combination of white curtains with dark brown curtain rods, though!  And, pretty soon, the whole house should be alive with the sound of music.  ;-)