LOC possibility

Ryan and I are going to Washington, DC in May. Just the two of us, which is exciting enough as it is :) Cade gets to go stay with Nana and Papa at his first Nana and Papa Camp. I think they're as excited to keep Cade as we are to get to go somewhere without him...so it works out for everyone involved.

We've been to DC before. When Ryan's cousin graduated from the Naval Academy a couple of years ago, we went to see him graduate and also took a quick day trip into DC. If you've ever been there, you know there's no possible way to see even a fraction of what's there in that amount of time. But we did get to see some things, so that was cool. One of the things we did do was go to the Library of Congress. They were doing some construction, but it was open. There's what I refer to as the "outer" part, where it's kind of like a museum with displays and audio tours and such. We walked around that part. LAME.

I want to go into where the BOOKS are. Hello, it's a library. Aren't BOOKS what makes it a library? (Book are actually only part of what makes something a library. The information stored there is what actually makes it a library. I know. Total nerd.) The part where the books are is not accessible to the public. You can peek in a little window and see them, but apparently you have to have special permission (like as in, you're doing super-important research) to go into where the books are. You know where this is going...

Last time we were there, I actually walked all over the place trying to figure out how to sneak in. I definitely ended up in some places where I was not supposed to be, but alas, never in the library part. This time, I called our wonderful United States Representative, because his helpful website says that he can schedule tours of several places in DC for his constituents. The LOC is one of them. So I call and talk to his friendly little secretary girl. She's going to try to set up a tour of the White House and the Capitol for us. She's also going to try to set up a tour of the LOC for us. I explained to her that I have a master's degree in library science and I've seen the outer part of the LOC where the normal tours are, but it's very important to me to get to see the actual library part. She said she would try her best. I then added that if I can only do one of the three things I asked her for, the Library of Congress is the one I want. She said she understood. (Ryan may not be super-happy about that because I think he really wants to tour the White House if we can, but oh, well :)

(Side note: did you know that you have to give your full name, birthdate, and social security number to even be CONSIDERED for a tour of the White House? They run a full background check on everyone who asks to go on a tour. Holy cow.)

I'm excited. Now I know that this lovely girl (her name is Lauren) may not be able to deliver and I may end up disappointed. But it's exciting that she said she can try! And she was only my first phone call...I was prepared to write a letter to the President, and I may still. He hasn't done a whole heckuva lot for me. Getting me into to the LOC would go a long way in helping my opinion of him. I might even vote for him next time if he can pull that off. Hmmm...

God and His humor

I think that God sits around just laughing at us. Now obviously, He's rather busy listening to prayers and intervening in people's lives, but I think He probably just has to laugh at the things that we, as humans with narrow minds, do.

I started thinking about this the other day when I was praying for Cade's future wife. If he follows in his daddy's footsteps (which he may or may not, and that's ok), he'll marry a girl 3 years older than he is. Which means that currently, she would have just turned 4. It might be kind of weird to think about it like that, but that's what I'm saying. When Ryan was almost 1 and I had just turned 4, God already knew that He planned for us to get married. And so I think that sometimes, when Ryan was eating everything his mother put in front of him, and I was being the pickiest eater on the planet, God had to just sit and get tickled at what was to come. And when Ryan was being stubborn and refusing to give in to what his sisters and/or mom wanted, he was being prepared for a wife who needed him to be more stubborn than her (even if she doesn't really like it :). Again, God must have thought that was pretty funny.

It's kind of like when you know about a surprise before the person who the surprise is for knows. Like when my sister-in-law's boyfriend was going to propose. I knew about it several weeks in advance and was so excited for her, but she had no idea. Just waiting to hear about her reaction was so fun. And I think God is like that, too. He knows about ALL of the things that are in store for us. He planned them. And I'd like to think He gets excited when the things that He's planned for us happen and He gets to see our reaction. He obviously already knows what our reaction will be (just like I knew my sister-in-law was going to say "yes"), but actually seeing the reaction is different.

So when something awesome happens to you, just remember to thank God. And maybe smile at Him. Because I think He'd appreciate you acknowledging His hard work. And when something not-so-great happens, remember that God knew about it ahead of time, too. And it's all part of a bigger plan. A plan that you will probably get to laugh about once you have gotten through it. And one day, when we get to heaven we'll get to laugh WITH Him about it.

Of course, you only get to do that if you're a Christian (which I highly recommend). If you're not already, please check out http://mostimportantthing.com/. If you know my name, you can search for my testimony. If not, the whole website is full of Christians sharing how knowing Jesus changed their lives.

Baby shower

I was privileged to get to be a part of my dear friend Erin's baby shower this weekend. She's expecting her first, Emery Mae, on (or before :) March 12. Planning and organizing has been going on for months, it seems like, and I'm glad our efforts paid off!

We had a great group show up for the shower and (I think) everyone enjoyed themselves. Erin and Emery got lots of wonderful gifts, and I hope that all of the gifts that have been showered on them in the last few weeks have helped to ease (at least some of) the stress of having a baby. Erin has watched most of her close friends go through this process in the past few years and now it's her turn! Hopefully she's seen all of our mistakes and won't make the same ones! :)

I didn't get a chance to write in the "advice" book yesterday, so here's what I would have written...

Erin, I love you! (I'm getting all teary-eyed writing this and I'm not even pregnant!!) I hope you can relax and enjoy your last few weeks of being pregnant. I know you know you much you (and that sweet little thing in your belly) are loved, but don't forget it. Also, don't forget that this is your baby (ok, and Russell's) to raise. So you do what you feel is right, but don't hesitate to ask any of us ANYTHING. And then decide whether that advice works for you, or doesn't. I promise we won't make fun of you, because chances are, we had to ask somebody else the same question already :)
And it's ok to cry because you don't know why your baby is crying. Sometimes, that's the only thing there is to do. But crying (and even hysterical screaming) hasn't hurt Cade, and chances are good that it won't hurt Emery, either.
PS Cade said he'd be glad to come over and give her a hug and a kiss to calm her down if you can't handle it. ;)

Nine month check-up

Last Monday, I took Cade to the doctor for his nine month check-up. Our pediatrician was very pleased with all of the things he's able to do now. We've been given the official okay on feeding him "real" food, as long as it's mushy or soft. So that's what we've been doing. Last week, he had this beef and potato thing I make, hash brown soup, and last but not least, grandma's chicken and dumplings.

He was a little unsure about the beef and potato mixture. I think it was the texture of the ground beef that weirded him out a little bit (he's definitely related to my husband's side of the family...texture is a BIG deal to Ryan's sisters and dad :). But he ate it okay. Just made some funny faces in the process.

Cade really liked the hash brown soup. Which is good, because I'm pretty sure it's my new favorite thing to make. And Ryan really likes it, too.

But Cade LOVED grandma's chicken and dumplings. Which is easy to understand. My mom actually makes it from scratch, and you really can't beat homemade chicken and dumplings. Especially on a cold night. Which it has been around here. For days. Maybe months. Maybe years. OK, not really. But it sure seems like it!

His stats for his nine month check-up: 18 lbs, 10 oz and 30 inches long. Weight is the 19th percentile and height is the 93rd!! He is definitely a long, skinny baby. And I am definitely okay with that. I have a feeling clothes are going to get harder and harder to find for him, but there are worse problems to have than that!

New dishwasher

Several weeks ago, ok, more like two months ago, I noticed that the dishwasher was leaking when it was running. Not like it flooded the kitchen floor, but there was a definite puddle (that was slowly but surely ruining my rug!). Ryan watched it for a while, and finally, last weekend, he pulled the bottom of the dishwasher off to watch it while it ran. Lo and behold, it was dripping from 5 places. One of which was the motor. Yikes!!

We looked at a couple of places last weekend, just while we were out, and then I began some serious research. I checked out Consumer Reports (I can get to it through the public library...free :) and also looked at the websites for Sears, Lowe's, and Best Buy and read reviews from people who had actually purchased the specific dishwashers Consumer Reports rated highly. (And of course, I also asked for advice on Facebook)

That night, we went by Lowe's to look at a couple I had seen good reviews for, with no intention of purchasing one yet. Of course, they were having a sale that ended that day, coupled with free delivery and haul-away this month. I had narrowed it down to 2 or 3, but I couldn't remember which I had liked the best, so we went home so I could check out my list again. While I fed Cade and got him in bed, Ryan went back to Lowe's and ordered one.

And it came in to the store today so it will be delivered tomorrow morning!! Hooray! And we only had to do dishes by hand once (well, WE only did them once...I did them another time). But that sure will help me appreciate my new dishwasher! Here's hoping I picked a good one!!!!

Such a big boy

It's been a big boy week around here. Cade started off the week with crawling. I think he looks too little to be crawling around by himself, but Ryan pointed out that when someone is holding him, he looks like a toddler who should already be walking. He IS pretty long.

Last night, he had his first big boy bath. As in, he was sitting up in the bathtub all by himself (obviously not without supervision...how on earth can people do that?), without the bath seat that we have been using since he was born. The bath seat is put away for now, until #2 comes along to use it :)

He LOVED his bath. For the most part, he has been pretty tolerant of taking baths since he was born. Just a few times here and there that he was not so much the fan. But let me tell you, last night when he could splash, that was really something exciting. He grinned and giggled and tried to crawl in the bathtub (didn't work out so well for anyone involved), and we were all wet by the time he was done. He's definitely a splasher. I told Ryan that we're going to have to start wearing waterproof clothes for bathtime now.

He's 38 weeks old today, so he has now been out of my belly for as long as he was in it! (Well, technically tomorrow, since he was a day late :) Crazy!

Crawling!

It finally happened! Cade is officially a crawler now! He's been getting around pretty well for a month or so, and it's been pretty entertaining to watch how he does it. Kind of a combination army crawl/sit up and turn/flail on tummy/leapfrog. I'm sure you know exactly what I mean by that :)

But yesterday, he actually crawled for about 8 feet without stopping to flail on his tummy. (He was after Toby's rope...nevermind the 27 toys that were out that were actually HIS)

I guess this means I need to finish the baby-proofing. My guess is that the first casualty will be the Xbox 360 on the TV stand, because there's not a lot I can do about all of the stuff we have out on it. We shall see!