Ivy's Birthday Take 2

Ivy turned 2 years old yesterday. It's unreal. I feel like she was born last week. It's amazing how 2 years feels like an eternity when you are a teenager but feels like a long weekend once you become a parent. We had planned an outdoor birthday party with a "Fish and Ocean" theme. I was kind of bummed when I looked at the days forecast and saw 50% chance of thundershowers moving through the area RIGHT during her party but, as we watched the Doppler on weather.com, every storm stayed to the North or South of us. We ended up having a wonderful time with family and friends. In addition to our local friends, Chrissy's mom, twin sis and her two boys came up for the occasion. It was a marvelous time....here's proof:


Ivy in her party dress. Her necklace has 2 pearls on it. Every year, for her birthday, we add 1 pearl to her necklace. Our hope is that she has a nice pearl necklace that she can wear on her wedding day.


Ivy's cake. You may notice that she swiped her finger through her name for a taste before we were able to snap a picture of it but hey...that's what you do when you're 2, right?


Ivy and her "Memom" checking out her cake. Despite the miles in between, my mother-in-law makes such a great effort to stay connected with her grand kids...a true blessing.


Ivy and her other grand mom...my mom. Ivy took a shine to her even as an infant.


The kids playing Ka-Ka Koo-Koo in the back yard.


No, Ivy...I don't want a drink of your iced tea but thanks for offering.


Ivy and "Beba" doing the hambone.


The kids playing a "fishing" game.


Our friends, the Waite's...looking quite "Hallmark Card-ish".


Cousin George looking VERY focused on the "feed the fish" game.


"Ivy bean" getting ready for cake and singing


Knee-deep in some wrapping paper destruction


Now that there is a deck full of wonderful people.


beautiful family...beautiful sunset.

We were blessed with a really great night. it's so awesome to be blessed with such an amazing family, extended family, and Godly friends.
Ivy got lots of nice clothes which, as would be expected, she wanted to try on....all at the same time. Here she is doing her best little bag-lady impression:

"I'm the dang....Pater Familias".

Father's Day is one of those interesting times of the year when you can take the "holiday" from two very distinct angles.....
1. "It's Father's Day and I want to spend as much time with my kids as possible, embracing the beauty of my family and this special day"....that's nice and all, but the reality sometimes is.....
2. "It's Father's Day and I'd love an hour to myself to do just about whatever I want to do...I love my kids and all but....a break would be wonderful."

This year....I'm stacking the deck....I'm going for the best of both worlds.
Now, as a parent, you know that there are a million variables that govern every aspect of your daily life....wake-up times, meals, sickness, naps, injuries, attitude, discipline....any of these can create either harmony or havoc at times within your household...all that being said.....
Sunday morning.....I'm waking up early....I mean EARLY....my Father's Day plan is to be out on the water fishing....by myself....by 5:30am.....brew up a strong pot of coffee....grab some fat night crawlers....and hit the lake....just me, myself, and I. I'm sure that the boy will wake up soon enough, maybe by 6:30-7:00 or so....but I am looking forward to that hour when I don't have to think about anything but me and the lunker that I'm yanking out of the lake Sunday Morning.
The rest of the day will involve family, church, doing the Sunday Paper Crossword, and perhaps some greasy take-out food and a good 6-pack....all of which I love....but I'm really looking forward to that early morning fishing session.
Even now, part of me feels guilty....I mean, my boy has been my fishing partner all year....is this a breach of etiquette to have a session without him? I'm not sure. I guess I'll leave that up to The Lord....If He wants me to take Gavin with me.....I'll leave it up to Him to wake Gavin up in time....otherwise....he's just going to have to be subject to the fish stories that I relay to him after he wakes..... I'm gonna leave that one up to The Lord.
I am so thankful for my children. I never imagined that I would enjoy fatherhood nearly as much as I have....what a blessing these little children are to me. Children are so equally beautiful and terrifying....I'm grateful for His continued wisdom, direction, and guidance.
Now...if He could also manage to guide a nice 5lb. bass onto my hook Sunday morning....that'd be alright with me.




blessed am I.

Ivy's Dedication

Nothing is promised.

Our homes, safety, family, health, wealth, success, food, water, heat, clothing, vehicles, comfort, friendships, spouses, life.....none of it is promised to us.

Our family holds firm to the belief that all things come from The Lord....and the only reason that we have anything, the only reason that we have been blessed with ANYTHING, is to turn around and give it back to Him as an offering of praise and to use those blessings for His Glory. Our children included.

We, as parents, have been entrusted with the care and guidance of our children, but, ultimately, they belong to Christ...He made them, He's known their souls and loved them since the beginning of time (just like he did us).

This weekend, we had Ivy's dedication: a physical gesture of our commitment to recognize the blessing that we have been entrusted with and our promise to dedicate our lives to pointing our little girl to the love of her Creator. Chrissy's mom and step dad drove up from Jersey, as did her twin sister, Susan and husband, Dave (Ivy and Gavin's Godparents) with their 2 awesome boys Charles and George. Here's a few pics from the weekend...Oh, and just in case there's some of you who hadn't heard...you may see Ivy's big, bright pink cast on her right arm....yeah, she took a tumble off the bed and fractured her arm....3 weeks in the cast and she ought to be right as rain. Anyhow, back to the pics:





It was a PERFECT New England Autumn Saturday. We all started it off at Old Sturbridge Village, one of our favorite haunts....







...when we got home, we had a small dedication ceremony around the campfire in the backyard. Prayers, Scripture, Song...





...we then went to the front yard and planted a dogwood tree for Ivy on the same strip of land that we planted a tree for Gavin a few years earlier. Everyone wrote a scripture verse on a card, something that they wanted to communicate to Ivy, read it, and put it in the hole...as the paper decomposes, it will provide nutrients for the tree to grow, just as God's Word provides us with the necessary spiritual "food" to grow in Him. We capped the afternoon with some delicious soups, sandwiches,apple desserts, family, friends, and laughter.





The following day, we brought her before our church family and had her dedicated publicly.

To everyone who participated in this past weekend's activities...thank you so much for the love, friendship, hard work, delicious food, great fellowship, and overall awesome time that you showed our family. It was such a pleasure getting to host you. How blessed we are to have not only such wonderful children, but also such amazing family and friends. I pray that as the years grow on, that our bonds only continue to tighten.

Last but not least, my not-quite 4 year old nephew Charles cut his first ever piece of wood with the chainsaw...check it:






thatta kid.


alright...one last shot of my baby girl:



Blessed are we.

Truckin' Like the Doodah Man

Ivy is officially truckin'.

there is nothing more exciting and terrifying than watching your child learn to walk. You are suddenly made aware of all the sharp corners and edges around your house. It's amazing how something, in this case- watching your child toddle around for the first few times, can make you see your home in a different light. In an instant your perception of your home shifts from "home sweet home" to "deathtrap". Tables, corners, walls, window sills, cupboards,stuff she can reach, stuff she can climb up on, stuff she can pull over on herself, stuff she can fall off of, places she can get stuck, things she can slam her fingers in....every time I see her walk around some area of the house or try to manipulate some obstacle, in the back of my mind I'm constantly doing damage assessment....like:
"O.K. she's sitting in her little rocking chair in the middle of the carpeted floor with no hard toys or furniture around her...if she somehow nosedives off the chair, she'll only fall forward, I'll sit here in front of her on the floor so I can catch her so she doesn't smack her face on the floor. Good thinking, Mike. You're such a forward thinking, wonderful dad".

But it never works out like that.

She'll find some way of back flipping over the back of the chair and somehow do some weird mid-air half-twist and land with her fingers under the rocking chair at the exact moment that her other hand grabs the arm of the chair to break her fall which pulls the chair back and pinches every finger on her hand while her leg gets pinned behind her in some weird greco-roman wrestling submission hold.

**sigh**


Once your kids start walking...they'll never stop. Once they start talking, they'll never stop. These are blessings sometimes dressed in the clothing of curses.

Still, I love it. I never ever though I'd enjoy parenting as much as I do. I never imagined that it would be so easy to sacrifice my own agenda for the sake of my family. The things that your kids do that you take joy in as a parent...can sometimes make you feel like a mental patient for enjoying so much....the slightest expression on your child's face...they smallest inflection in a word they speak....the catch-phrase or slang that they say that completely catches you off guard. Seeing them perform tiny acts of thoughtfulness or unprompted acts of kindness....brings so much joy.

I guess even watching your kid take a creative nose dive off the back of her tiny rocking chair could bring joy....if she sticks the landing :^)






Also...not quite worthy of it's own "Gavinism" post, but....
Today Gavin earned a dollar from his grandpa for helping with a job. I came home from work, and the family was riding bikes in the driveway. Gavin runs up to me and goes: "I got this dollar for helping Pa. I'm gonna use it to buy some poor kid something."

I was so full of joy. I was rubbing my eyes, and shaking my head from side to side, but still full of joy.

Incidentally...

I made it to Jersey in exactly the time that I thought and....


she ran to me.

RAN to me.

i'll never forget it.