The Top 7 Reasons Why I Loved "New In Town"

7. It's really clean!
6. I'm just such a huge fan of Mr. Harry Connick Jr. (Hope Floats)
5. I'm a sucker for accents.
4. They scrapbook.
3. They bring up Jesus in everyday conversations.
2. It made me laugh out loud.
1. I heart Blanche!


Go see it! You'll love it!

I'm discovering something about myself that may not be a surprise to many of you. I'm finding that I can be at times quite shallow. When it comes to movies I'm perfectly okay with someone going from thirteen to thirty via magic dust and watching Hollywood's happy endings, but when it comes to something as sacred as my prayer life, I'm greatly in need of a swim to the deeper end.

Where did this come from? Ryan was going through an old prayer journal and he came across a date from 2001 where he had asked me how he could pray for me. Here's how the list went: Pray for me because I have a Physical Chemistry exam at 6, then a history quiz tomorrow at 11, I also need prayer for a paper that I have to write. Oh and something about psychology - I forgot I took that! That was it!! Fast forward to my most recent prayer request - I need prayer as I write my thesis. Eight years have gone by and my prayer life has barely budged from the daily happenings in my school-life. Now granted - I have been in school for more years than most people would attribute to my age - but I would have hoped that I would have matured spiritually as I did academically.

I'm being hard on myself - but sometimes I think that's good. And I know that God loves to hear our every prayer - I will never debate that. But why wasn't there sprinkled amongst the prayers for good grades and academic endurance a prayer for the lonely, the sick, the hungry, and those who don't know how much Christ loves them? Why weren't there petitions for growth in love and humility? I'm reminded of Scripture that exhorts us to seek first the Kingdom of God.

I'm doing the Beth Moore Bible study, Esther. And it is wonderful! Beth pointed out that when Esther's eyes were opened from her sheltered life as a queen to what was going on beyond the palace gates she realized that it was time for some serious prayer and fasting and was quick to do so. My prayer is that my eyes will be opened from my sheltered life, to all that is going on beyond my own "gate" - and realize that now is the time for some serious prayer and fasting.

Worlds collide

I'm in the lab today running columns that will separate salt from DNA. I just finished my first column and as I was removing my sample I thought to myself (and fortunately did not say out loud) "Okay, we're going to let the salt pass through the column while mommy goes and pumps." All I can say in response is, "wow". Apparently, as a result of being a mom, I now detail my every move and refer to myself as "mommy". Even to a G-25 Sephadex column. Wow.

No Whey, Jose!

We found out this week that Ethan is allergic to dairy products. Bless his heart, his stomach has been so upset! Bless my heart - no more icecream!

I will say that it is extremely difficult to eat absolutely no dairy products. Yes, the lack of icecream and iced mochas is devastating - but did you know that there is milk in Taco Seasoning?! I'm not lying! I thought I had planned the perfect non-dairy menu last night. Tacos - minus the cheese and sour cream - with corn salsa and avacados. Not a problem, right?! Wrong. It turns out that there are whey solids - a milk product - in taco seasoning. I had already browned the meat and the corn salsa with avacados was already made, so I had to proceed. The heroine of Little Women, Josephine March, said "Necessity is indeed the mother of invention," so I made my own taco seasoning. A lot of chili pepper, some cumin, a little of a bunch of other seasonings and voila! The non-dairy menu was saved!

If any of you have really tasty non-dairy recipes, send them my way!

Wow time flies!

I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. Ethan is 6 weeks already! He is getting so big and becoming more alert every day. We are absolutely loving getting to know him. He loves music and loves to laugh and LOVES to snuggle! He took a bottle for the first time last week. This I didn't know - not everyone likes their beverages of choice to be ice cold and refreshing. (Please note that any comments of "Duh!" will be resented and deleted immediately. In my defense, I will say that I ran the bottle under hot water for a long time and I was rushing because he was very hungry!) I now know how to properly heat a bottle and he does very well with them. This worked out beautifully when Ryan and I got to go out on our first date in 6 weeks on Friday. (Which by the way - go see Fireproof if you haven't already. It is so good!) At his last dr's appointment he weighed 11 lbs and we found out that he has a lymph node. (This is a slightly embarrassing story. Apparently, they're pretty common and nothing to worry about. I would like to add that I am a chemist and we are not required to take anatomy and physiology!!)



He gives me this look all the time!




Here we are at a pumpkin patch that we went to with our friends Jim and Taryn and their precious daughter Tessa. This was the first of hopefully many dates for Ethan and Tessa. :)



As I'm writing this the boys are taking a Sunday afternoon nap - which is what I should be doing! Adios!

I wish this could be scratch and snif...

because this baby smells so good! I am very happy (extremely happy!) to say that his umbilical cord fell off yesterday and we were able to give him his first real bath this afternoon! Oh the things I get excited about now. But it was so awesome, and he really does smell good!

I would like to say that today marks one week that Ryan and I have been taking care of this little fella all by ourselves and I'm happy to add that it hasn't gone too bad. I have learned that even a decaf iced mocha at 8:30 pm is not the best option if you want to sleep at all through the night, but other than that, it's been pretty good. Speaking of the fam, my dad and brother joined my mom here last weekend. Ethan loved seeing his Pops again and meeting his Uncle Nathan for the first time.











Ethan especially loved hearing his Pops sing and play the guitar. Check out the video.

He's Here!!

And I have never been more in love! We welcomed the most beautful and perfect baby boy into our lives on the evening of September 3rd! I can't believe that two weeks have already gone by. They really have gone by so quickly. I can't even recap the past two weeks. They have been an absolute blur, but I have loved every second of them. Everything from giving him his first sponge bath and going on our first walk together to rocking him to sleep at 2:30 in the morning and kissing his soft chubby cheeks - it has been so amazing! I really can't believe that he's mine. He's changing every day - getting SO big. Here are some pictures!