Thanksgiving

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish each other with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. --Colossians 3:15-17 (emphasis mine)

In these moments that pile up and build on each other, that stretch and multilpy and form into this grand tapestry I call my life, I am grateful for many things. I am grateful for infinite chances to be grateful. To remind myself of all the things I am blessed with day in and day out, now and on into eternity. I am grateful that my blessings are not dependent on my gratefulnees, for I know I have far more to be thankful for than I even realize. I am grateful that God, in His infinite wisdom, saw that I am utterly inept to save myself, and so He sent his son to do the saving for me. And I am grateful for this life He has given me in which I get to learn, and relearn, and learn again of His richness and blessing, and I get to do it with my husband and kids and friends walking the journey with me.

I am grateful that the turkey I made turned out tasty and moist.

I am grateful that my kids are learning how to talk, and that their voices bring me satisfaction and their words bring me joy.

I am grateful that Garrett loves me. I am grateful that he is a good man who loves the Lord and is faithful to his promises.

I am grateful to live in a state that offers incredible early intervention services so my kids get the best possible therapeutic assistance.

I am grateful that Amelia loves to snuggle with me.

I am grateful that my kids helped decorate our Christmas tree this weekend. I am grateful that it's the time of year for Christmas trees.

I am grateful we had good friends with whom to spend Thanksgiving.

I am grateful I have wonderful parents who are willing to fly across the country to visit my family and build relationships with their growing grandchildren.

I am grateful for a beautiful home that keeps me warm, dry, and comfortable.

I am grateful that people who meet my kids compliment me on how well behaved they are. I don't know all the reasons why they are good kids, but by golly I am grateful to have good kids.

I will be grateful when I find my missing video camera.

I am grateful to have so many experiences worth capturing on video--to have moments so wonderful I know I'll want to relive them later.

I am grateful for life.

Here's hoping you and yours had a Thanksgiving weekend full of joy, love, and gratitude.

Happy cake!

Yesterday was Garrett's birthday. We had a few busy evenings scheduled over the weekend so last Thursday I made him a steak dinner and a homemade carrot cake. Amelia, Abigail, and Gabriel loved watching me ice the cake and helped add the finishing touch by sprinkling roasted nuts on top. I coached them all to say "Happy birthday daddy!" when Garrett walked through the door, but somehow the sentiments were lost in translation. I did hear Amelia exclaim "Happy cake!" when he got home. I thought that was pretty appropriate, if not exactly what I had in mind.

Unfortunately our plans for Saturday night to get a babysitter and go out just the two of us didn't work out so well. The kids have been sick for almost a week now with coughing and some inconsistent fevers. Thankfully Garrett and I have not come down with anything yet and we were still planning on going out, but Saturday evening when the kids woke up from their nap I went in to find Abigail had thrown up all over herself and her bed and was clearly distraught about it. We thought it best to call off the sitter in an effort to keep from spreading the misery. As it happened, Garrett ended up enjoying his birthday dinner with Gabriel at McDonald's after Gabe threw a mighty fit over a not so obvious injustice and Garrett decided to just get him out of the house. Not exactly what we had planned, but then again life is hardly predictable with three two year olds all aiming monkey wrenches at our paths.

Today was a bit of an improvement from yesterday. The kids are still sick and feeling lousy in fits and spurts, but the weather was amazing and we thought it would be fun to get out for some fresh air. We've discovered a lovely park just a few miles from us with a great playground and lots of picturesque hiking trails, so we packed up the crew and spent the afternoon outside. It was beautiful!

Happy crazy birthday to the love of my life!

Luke 12:32

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."


Little flock. How adeptly Jesus speaks to our need to be nurtured, cared for, watched over, protected. We pretend to be big strong individuals, autonomous, brave, untouchable. We are not. And yet he loves us still. He loves us because. He is pleased to give us the kingdom. I am pleased to take Gabriel and Abby and Amelia to the playground, knowing what is in store for them. How much more is our father pleased, delighted, overjoyed, satisfied, to offer us His very best. He stopped at nothing to give us this gift. He stops at nothing still.

(Gabriel taking our friend Olivia for a drive during Mt. Kisco's "Touch a Truck" community event)

Finally... apples!

We finally made it to the apple orchard this year and came back with a half bushel of fresh from the tree appley goodness. My hunger has been satiated. I got the ingredients last week to make some lentil soup. I figured I'd plan a day this week to have a dinner menu of homemade lentil soup, corn bread, and apple pie from scratch. Garrett said he thought that sounds ambitious. I agree. I won't hold myself to it, but the thought is nice.



A lot of nice thoughts run through my mind these days, though I feel like I have time to get just about none of them done. I can hardly plan time to make a quick phone call during the day, much less anything more bold. Naptime has all but disappeared with the kids switching to toddler beds a couple weeks ago. Did I even mention that? Once they were climbing out of bed with reckless glee every day we decided to take the rails down. I actually bought crib tents to see if I could keep my little monkeys contained for a while longer, but it took about seven and a half seconds to confirm that crib tents were not going to be a safe alternative. As soon as the first tent was set up I had one kid getting trapped between the tent and the crib bars while trying to climb into the crib, and another trying to hang from the zipper on the inside. I'm lucky Garrett got the thing off in one piece so I could send it back for a refund. Transitioning to toddler beds has been a breeze at nighttime, but naps have been a whole different story. I've spent a few weeks being quite worked up and stressed about it because there are two things that are clear to me: 1) my kids still need naps; 2) my kids are not willing to stay in bed to get them. I've spent many naptimes policing the little runaways and taking them back to bed each time they escape, but I am slowly coming around to the idea that I may just have to let them run wild. I hate that because it means there's only about a 1% chance of a nap happening and about a 90% chance of someone getting hurt or something getting broken, or both. So far Abby has come out of "naptime" with mysterious scrapes, cuts, and bite marks; Garrett walked in to find about a gallon of water seeping into the carpet because they tipped over the mini basketball hoop that has water in the base to keep it steady; they have climbed on the window sill numerous times and pulled the window shade down to the floor; they pull out the cords to the clock and lights in their room; and they have started playing with the framed art pieces above their beds, which means we need to secure them to the wall in a much sturdier fashion if we don't want someone to bring a frame crashing down, glass and all. It's very hard for me to get any downtime when I am policing wayward toddlers. It is also very hard to get downtime when I am trying to ignore wayward toddlers who are swinging from the rafters in the next room. But, I am beginning to think that the latter is still better for my sanity in the long run. So I keep praying that one of these days the novelty of freedom will wear off and my kids will realize just how tired they really are. How can they not need a nap when I feel like I could fall asleep in five seconds if someone just offered me a pillow?

It's hard to believe it's already November. I feel like the fall has just begun and I am still adjusting to our new busy schedule. With the start of Amelia's PT and MOPS and the continuation of speech therapy it feels like we are constantly busy, and yet I am also constantly looking for things to do and ways for us to get out and about because this apartment just can't contain us all anymore. We've met a great new playmate this year. I've made friends with a woman named Kelsey whose daughter, Mackenzie, is two and a half and has a new baby sister due any day now. Kelsey and I have started getting together with some regularity and it's been great to have another home to go to and to have Mackenzie add a little socialization. Everyone makes comments about how we have a built in playdate at our house, which in some respects is true. I realize it's nice that my kids have playmates in each other and they have one another to interact with. But playing with and around siblings does not offer the same socialization as interacting with other kids. There are different skills to learn with kids from other families--lessons about sharing, respecting other people's space and toys and decisions, communication. I love having them around other kids and Kelsey loves that having my kids around means Mackenzie is learning how to accommodate and share with others. So far it seems to be a win win.

Speech therapy is going very well and Sharon is really pleased with how far the kiddos have come. They are quickly catching up with age appropriate communication skills and our house is full of chatter now. We are still working out some kinks, like generalizing what they learn in session to use in everyday life. And they are still inclined to make some very random mispronunciations that seem to originate from nowhere. A couple weeks ago I finally realized that Amelia has been trying to say pajamas. We use a lot of variations of that word--jammies, jammers, jam-jams, pjs. But her approximation was something like "sh-shems." Not real close. Since I was finally able to figure out what she was trying to say she has made some real progress, thankfully. We are still trying to figure out the word playground. They can say something close to "play" and an approximation of "ground." But when they clamber for the playground I hear three little voices insisting "keymond, keymond, keymond!" It's a little odd. But besides the hiccups here and there, they really are becoming quite verbose. They are saying please, thank you, and you're welcome, and they're learning to answer questions. They love talking about "Kenzie's house" and they're well into identifying colors and learning to count. Gabe can consistenly get to five, if you don't count his tendency to leave out the number four. We're making progress!

A mixed bag weekend

This weekend had it's ups and downs. I've been wanting to go apple picking all season long and there have been a hundred reasons each weekend why it doesn't work out: the weather is crummy, other plans crop up, we're out of town. I've really been hoping for a fun family outing and we're running out of time. So yesterday I wanted to give it a go, even though the weather report was less than optimistic. We should have stayed home. It started raining before we ever left the parking lot of our apartment complex. We tried to make a go of it anyway but the orchard was just sloppy and wet. We walked through the pumpkin patch and Amelia picked out a soggy orange prize. Then we pretty much rose the white flag. I was really bummed but apple picking in the rain wasn't really what I had in mind when I pictured our cozy fall family outing. Please pray for good weather next weekend! It'll be out last chance. And I've so been looking forward to all the apple pie and applesauce and apple muffins just waiting to be made in my kitchen.

Today brightened my weekend a bit, because we got to spend an amazing day in New York City with some friends. God was sure smiling on us because he orchestrated a fantastic time for us. Our friends Kevin and Christie are in town for the weekend from North Carolina and we planned to meet them for lunch and hanging out in Central Park. And as it happened we got a random phone call from our college friend Hilary, who was in the city for just one night and wanted to hang out. It was perfect. We caught up with Kevin and Christie, played with the kids in the park, then met up with Hildary and had some dinner before we drove home with three incredibly sleepy two year olds. The weather could not have been more beautiful today. A complete turnaround from yesterday. The sun was out, fall colors were in full bloom, the temperature was warm, and the company couldn't be beat. It was fun to be in the city with the kids at an age where they can really enjoy the surroundings. The played at the playground and rode on the swings and played "chase" with Kevin and it was just fun to spend the day in the park. They are also at an age where naps are still a necessity on a regular basis, but if they miss one here and there the day doesn't have to fall apart. I was delighted that at dinner with Hilary the kids stayed in their seats and ate a tiny bit of food and didn't spill their waters. I have the best kids, the best family. I don't know what I'd do without any one of them.

I realize I have been a bit delinquent with my blog in some ways lately. I don't think I've even mentioned yet that a few weeks ago Amelia started physical therapy. We had her evaluated through Early Intervention, the same state program through which the kids receive speech therapy. Amelia was found to be pretty behind in her development with gross motor skills and her muscle tone is low, so she's getting PT now to hopefully help her gain some stability and grace. I take her to a special gym facility for her therapy twice a week, which means our schedule is a bit fuller this fall than it has been. Unlike with speech therapy, I don't get to be a part of the PT sessions. It's probably a good thing, since I always have Abigail and Gabriel with me and it's impossible for Rebecca, Amelia's therapist, to get anything done with all of us tagging along. It's hard to not be involved, but I'm also proud of Amelia for being willing to go off without her mama. Last Wednesday was the first time Amelia agreed to go off with Rebecca on her own. She's such a brave girl! We're still getting used to the new routine and it's too early to know if the therapy is going to help, but I have no reason to doubt it will. We're incredibly blessed to have these services available to us. God is good.

Dayton

So here is a slide show of our time in Dayton, when I finally had a moment to pull out the camera. My kids especially enjoyed playing outside and getting more acquainted with the dogs. We spent our entire trip staying with people who have big dogs. The girls were terrified at first, but by the end of the week Abby was throwing the ball in lively games of fetch and Amelia was at least tolerating the dogs' presence. Gabe seemed pretty laid back about the whole thing. They are all still talking about the puppies.

More going on than I have time to write about

Life has been hectic for the past couple weeks, as my absence from blogging probably indicates. The biggest news of late: my brother Wyatt got married! Garrett and the kids and I just got back yesterday from our road trip to Cincinnati to see Wyatt and Kalpana tie the knot last Saturday, October 10. It was a wonderful, extremely busy trip and an extraordinary wedding. I have to admit early on that I do not have a single picture from our time with my family. The schedule was so jam packed and I was so busy keeping track of my kids that I just did not have the time or extra hands to pick up my camera, so I'm hoping I can snag some good photos from other people. I just wish I had them now so I could share them as I explain our whirlwind in Ohio.

Garrett and I packed up the kids and headed out of town on Tuesday, Oct 6. The drive to Cincinnati from home is about 11 hours of driving, so we decided to leave in the evening in the hopes that the kids would sleep in the car a good portion of the first day. As it happened, the kids were amazing travelers for us. They road happily in the car until we stopped for dinner on Tuesday evening, then fell asleep soon after and we drove until midnight when we stopped at a motel for the night. The next day we were up and on the road around 9am and during the drive the kids played, watched videos, and slept until we arrived in Cincinnati shortly after 5pm. We could not have asked for a smoother trip.

In Cincinnati were were hosted by Carol and Paul, some close friends of Kalpana's parents. They were very accommodating and extremely helpful in making their home comfortable for all of us as well as my mom, who also stayed in their huge home. Carol was wonderful about having food prepared for the kids as we needed, which was a huge lifesaver since we sometimes were literally running from one activity to another. Festivities started in earnest on Thursday, when Garrett and Gabriel got to hang out with the guys, visiting the tux shop and going to lunch, while mom and I took Amelia and Abigail to a ladies lunch.

Kalpana is Hindu so much of the wedding weekend involved Hindu ceremonies and traditions, but my family has an Episcopal tradition and Wyatt wanted a Christian ceremony as well. He was not baptized as a baby and to get married in the Episcopal church you need to be baptized, so on Thursday afternoon Wyatt was baptized in a private ceremony at Kalpana's parent's home. After that we had the rehearsal for the Episcopal wedding ceremony, which took place at the Cincinnati zoo, and after the rehearsal was the rehearsal dinner downtown. We originally planned to take the kids with us to the rehearsal, but thank God Garrett decided to take them home instead. It was raining cats and dogs at the zoo and we all would have been miserable trying to keep the kids dry and happy. Kalpana's parents did an extraordinary job preparing to accommodate our family, and they provided babysitters to stay with the kids at Carol and Paul's during the evenings so Garrett and I could go to the evening events, so we made it the rehearsal dinner and enjoyed a very special and fun dinner without worrying about the kids.

Friday festivities started early with a Hindu engagement ceremony that took up the morning, followed by lunch. It was my first real taste of the Indian aspect of the wedding and it was so interesting to watch the whole process. Hindu ceremonies, to the outside observer anyway, seem very ornate and intricate, and they are filled with tradition and symoblism. At the same tme, they have a more casual feel than a Western wedding ceremony in that people will come and go, ask questions, and move around. So I got to see almost all of what was going on, but when the kids started acting up no one minded me or Garrett getting up to walk them out of the room to go play in the foyer. In the afternoon my mom and I spent some time getting Mehndi--henna tattoos painted on our hands and feet so we were appropriately decorated for the wedding ceremony the next day. On Friday night there was an enormous Mehndi party. Basically it was a party to celebrate Wyatt and Kalpana, thrown by some more good friends of Kalpana's parents. It was a catered event with amazing Indian food, an Indian DJ, and Mehndi artists painting tattoos on anyone who wanted them. I have never seen decadence like that, but it was amazingly comfortable. Everyone seemed to have a great time and we spent a lot of time on the dance floor. I even saw my parents cutting a rug like I've never witnessed, so it was a lot of fun all around.

Saturday morning again started early with the Hindu wedding ceremony. It was held in downtown Cincinnati in a cavernous music hall. The decorations were magnificent though, with amazing colors and lavish decorations. They turned an ordinary hall into an awesome sight. Our whole family was dressed in our Indian best, me in my sari, Garrett and Gabriel in their kurtas, and the girls in their pavadais. Before the ceremony started Garrett and I were worried about how the kids would do. They hadn't been getting any naps since we arrived in Cincinnati and the pace of the events was wearing on them. Gabriel was already asking for home and spent most of the morning melting onto the floor in one tantrum after the other. But I guess the intrigue of the ceremony was enough to quiet him down. They were all pretty well behaved once we went into the wedding hall. In the beginning of the ceremony Wyatt's family walks with him into the hall and we are greeted by Kalpana's family. Then we participate in part of the early ceremony. After that was finished Garrett took the kids to be with some on-site babysitters so we could enjoy the rest of the ceremony. Watching Wyatt up on stage getting married was a little odd. Not that he was getting married, but that I knew he was getting married and yet it was in such a foreign environment that I didn't really make emotional sense of what was going on. The ceremony was stunning and I loved being a part of it, but it didn't really sink in that Wyatt was married until a little later on. There was a point in the Hindu cerememony when the groom ties a necklace around the bride's neck, sort of equivalent I think to bride and groom exchanging rings in a Christian ceremony. During the necklace tying, the groom' sister (that's me!) gets to tie the second and third knot in tne necklace, signifying welcoming the bride into the groom's family. That was pretty cool. I liked feeling a part of it. And I admit I liked getting to go on stage while I wore my amazing sari that Kalpana had bought in India. I'll have to go to more Indian weddings just so I have a reason to wear that beautiful outfit!

After going home to change we were back at the zoo for the Episcopal ceremony. Everything went really well for that as well. The weather cooperated and we had a beautiful evening. Gabriel refused to carry the ring pillow so Garrett got to be the world's oldest ring bearer, while he walked down the aisle holding hands with Gabe, who looked adorable in his tux dragging his Winnie the Pooh bear by the arm. The girls were not so keen on walking down the aisle. Amelia refused from the get go, and Abby walked partway but decided it wasn't such a hot idea, so I carried both of them. It was a bit challenging. The aisle was actually a bridge with slats, so I had to make sure my heels didn't catch in the cracks. And at the end of the aisle were three steps to climb before reaching the front of the ceremony. But thankfully we all made it unscathed, and the girls of course looked cute as could be. The guests got a second look at Amelia when we reached the spot in the cememony when I had to get up and do a reading. Amelia was not interested in staying in her seat, so I took her, along with her milk and snack cup, up to the podium to read a poem. After the ceremony I learned that in between verses the audience could hear Amelia guzzling her milk from her sippy cup. At least she wasn't crying! After a beautiful ceremony Garrett and I sent the kids home with a babysitter and we stayed to eat, drink to toasts, and again dance into the night. It was so much fun, and such a fitting celebration.

The one thing I have not yet had time to do it reflect much on the weekend and the wedding. It was such a whirlwind of a wedding with so much constantly going on. I was thrilled to be a part of it though and I'm very excited for Wyatt and Kalpana. I think they are so good for each other and I already feel like having her connected to our family has brought us all closer in some intangible but vital ways. I look forward to the future with her as a sister. Congratulations Wyatt and Kalpana!

Of course the wedding did not mark the end of our adventure. I couldn't travel to Ohio without visiting my friend Kim in Dayton, so on Sunday, after a morning brunch, and a mid-day visit with Garrett's cousin who also lives in Cincinnati, our family drove an hour to Dayton and stayed with Kim and her husband Kaz and daughter Jade for a couple days. It was a bit of a rough visit since we were on the tail end of an alreayd exhausting trip, but I am so glad we made it. Connecting with Kim is always a treat and it's so fun to see our kids together. We got some time at the park and lots of time around the house playing in the yard and throwing the ball for the dogs. I was sorry we couldn't stay longer, but it was clear that the kids were getting worn out and ready for some normalcy again, so Garrett and I packed up the car again and headed home on Tuesday evening. The kids traveled well once more. It was a bit rougher on the way home than the way there. Gabriel especially was taxed by our time away from home and was having more meltdowns and tantrums towards the end, but we all made it unscathed and we're back home, mostly unpacked and happy to be in familiar territory again.

And that just about does it. Maybe this was not the most exciting post--takes too much energy still to do much more than regurgitate what's been going on--but it has definitely been an exciting month! Now it's time for a nap. Anyone want to come over and babysit?