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this is the day…

…that the Lord has made! We will rejoice and be glad in it!

It was a surreal, out of doors kind of day for this time of year, and we were so thankful to be able to enjoy it. Henry was a bit small last year to take advantage of swings and slides and things, but if mom and dad have anything to say about it this time around, he’s not going to miss a one:) We ventured out for an afternoon walk with the stroller and Kruger in tow, and Hank made his park playground debut. From the pictures, it’s clear that the grown-ups in the fam appreciated the experience more than HD, but we trust he’ll warm up to the idea before long. With all of the spring, summer and fall stretched ahead of us, there’s no doubt we’ll have a jungle gym junkie on our hands before the year is out!

After our (brief) trip to the park, we stopped by to visit with a few friends in the neighborhood, met an oh-so-sweet brand new baby, checked out a few “for sale” signs here and there (inquiring minds. nope, we wouldn’t think of abandoning the little blue house), and rounded out the walk with a pink lemonade purchase from a few budding entrepreneurs (they even gave Kruger a complimentary dog treat:). Arriving home, we hopped in the car for a trip to our favorite local ice cream establishment (how we’ve missed it over the winter!) and headed out to the beach for a little gazing. Who knew March would bring so much in the way of warm, wonderful days spent doing the things we love most?!

It was such a treat to catch a glimpse of the months ahead, and such a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. A little Spring in my life does this chica one whole heck of a lot of good!

A few of my favorite (and our silly) moments from the day:

What a blessing!

headed to bed all the better for fresh air and sunshine,

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Categories family, Henry, kruger, musings, outdoors

ten (plus ten).

6 Mar

Hanker Tanker,

Well, little mister, you are officially ten months old. Ten months and ten days actually, but things were a little offbeat last week when you turned double digits. Will you forgive your well-intentioned mama? As the calendar rolled over to your ten month mark, you were busy spending precious time with family and loving your mommy well when the days were hard. You never cease to amaze me, mini-gentleman of mine. With less than a year under your belt, you teach me plenty about grace most days–always serving as a reminder for me to be my best self, always cuddling or smiling or needing me in a way that says, “I forgive you,” when I don’t quite get it right.

At ten months old, HD, you have proven yourself a most patient and accommodating child on more occasions than we could expect. You have your moments of course (when the days get long and you’ve been away from your own bed too many nights in a row), but in all fairness, I do the same and I’m almost 29 years your senior. I’m not sure that changes much with age, darlin’, and I’m thankful that you’re at least honest with us about your needs. Truly, there are times when I wonder whether I could inherit a smattering of your miniature wisdom; you seem to have a keen sense of what everyone else around you is feeling, and you act accordingly. I don’t know how it’s possible for someone your age to have such sensitivity or awareness, but remarkably, you do. You continue to be a most incredible and undeserved gift to us.

I have never been more grateful for–nor more proud of you, than I have been these past few weeks. I keep thinking that my love for you couldn’t possibly grow any more, and just when I’m convinced of it, my heart stretches even a bit further. You are a light to the people around you–just ask anyone who spent time with us in Gramma’s hospital room. God shines through you into our lives in a tangible and holy way, and as your mama, I’m just humbled over and over to have the privilege of caring for you in this season of your life. I hope I can somehow do you justice.

In as many ways as you bless us, Henry David, you keep us on our toes just as much:) You are crawling, cruising, scaling, standing, reaching, tip-top-toeing your way to everything you can get your hands on. We agreed just tonight, in fact, that caring for you throughout the day has grown exponentially more challenging in the past week and a half. You’re doing absolutely nothing wrong, mind you. You’re doing everything exactly as you should be. It’s every corner, edge, stair, wall, object, and turn that are the problem, really. Effectively, we could blame the house–or perhaps it’s lack of true baby-proofness (That is not a word, by the way, but I’m your mother, so I’m using it. In time, you’ll learn all about my penchant for making up words;). Needless to say, we are doing our best to save you from the major falls and scrapes and bruises that would cause unnecessary pain and/or tears on our watch. And we’re making note of every angle requiring immediate or near-immediate attention, planning a thorough and vigilant elimination of said culprits in the days to come. You did try to scale your dresser yesterday, Oh Adventurous One, and while it’s tempting to remove all furniture from your sphere of influence until you truly get your sea legs, we will not be stacking soft piles of clothing on the floor in its stead. The thing is heavy and not going anywhere–it’s you I’m worried about. What do you say we don’t fall off the front of the dresser anytime soon?

On a last, but certainly no less significant note, you are pronouncing WORDS, my dear. Real, certifiable, recognizable words. When did you learn to say things like, “Clock!” ??? Clock. Really. Of all things. I’m not knocking the probability of your being our punctual child, I’m just saying. Duck and dog and car and dada and mama were all so much more predictable when they happened. You’re still missing a few K’s and R’s here and there, but I truly appreciate the way you say “Kruger” in your own, special vernacular. It is certainly helpful to know what you want, who you’re looking for, and what’s on your mind. Someday we’ll have entire conversations, and I look forward to those. Still, I’ll take all of the “clocks” and “Krugers” and “cars” I can get while they’re blooming. (I’ve learned so much more about human development raising you thus far than I ever did in biology, psychology and all of the other classrooms combined.)

Thank you for being a bright spot even on the dimmest days, precious bug. Ten months and ten days with you, and we’ve needed sunglasses on every one of them! Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently, sweet boy. YOU are a marvelous creation!

all the love in the world,

your mama

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Categories baby, Faith, family, Henry, Home, kruger, Lessons, life events, mommyhood

from my vantage point: nine months.

25 Jan

Darling Boy of Mine,

The days are passing like minutes on the calendar; where have nine months come and gone so quickly? Today you are the same in age as the amount of time you spent tucked inside my belly, growing into that sweet, small, dependent babe we met face to face just three quarters of a year ago. Still the same Henry David we named you in those very first moments, now you are coming into your own in new ways all of the time.

What do I want you to know about where we are in this very moment? I wish I could capture so much more of you who are than I’ll ever be able–wish I had a replay button to catch every little expression you make. But then, who could keep up?! One of the things I marvel at most about you these days is your ability to light up any room. It only takes a moment, but with one funny face or laugh or nod you have us all softened and attentive to your next entertaining act. You pull me out of a bad mood or a sour day like nothing else can: a blessing to my spirit in a way only God could fashion…

On a lighter noter, you are outgrowing all of your pajamas!…and your socks and onesies and nearly anything else you’ve been wearing as of late. Your army crawl is getting to be more of an army run–nothing gets in your way if you’ve set your eye on something across the room. There are still no teeth in your sweet little mouth, but we think they’re very close. I doubt you’ll make it to your first birthday without a few pearly whites to show off when you dig into cake. You’ve added breakfast in the highchair to your repertoire, making that three square meals a day and milk inbetween. You will eat nearly anything we put in front of you, and finger foods have quickly become regular entertainment. Kruger is also a source of interest all day long. The poor dog loves you and doesn’t know what to do with you all at the same time. I hope you’ll both soon learn to play well together, and I trust a best friendship isn’t far down the road.

When dad gets home from work each day, we eat together at the table, play on the floor, splash around at bath time and always make sure to read a story (or stories) before the end of the day. We continue to pray health and safety and faith and joy over you, trusting that God will look after you and care for you in ways we can only supplement as your parents. When we say goodnight, you always look behind you and over your shoulder to see us leaving–not so ready for our time to be over but tuckered out after a busy, play-filled, action-filled day. Life is never boring with you as we mark your new discoveries and celebrate what a delightful little boy you are becoming.

I’m not ready to give up on you being a baby just yet, and as our first, I probably never will be. You are still cuddly and cozy and dependent and hesitant in all of the right ways, while fiercely independent and curious and adventurous in others. The contrast is striking to me as your mama, honored to have a front row seat as you change and grow so remarkably in this all-too-short amount of time. I’m so thankful to have three months between us and your first birthday, because I still want to take in “Baby Henry” for as long as possible. I don’t want to rush it along or wish it away or think too far ahead. You are marvelous just as you are, right at this very moment.

Nine months feels significant, because you’re surpassing the amount of time you lived in-utero by the amount of time you’ve been in the world. Suddenly, you feel bigger to me than I can contain, although I’m not sure why I’d want to try. You get better and better with every day (and I never thought it was possible!)

I love you beyond my ability to express it. So proud to be your mama. So blessed to watch you grow.

on the other side of a different kind of 40 weeks ;)

mommy

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Categories Faith, family, Health, Henry, Home, kruger, Lessons, life events, mommyhood, Prayer

weekend list.

20 Jan

Since I just ordered my 2012 planner yesterday (realized I can’t live without one after all, even with a smartphone lingering), I’m forgetting more than normal and feeling like I’ve maxed out storage capacity in the organizational compartments of my brain. As there’s a whole host of things I’d like to fit into the weekend, I thought I’d just plod through them here tonight. Then, I’m less likely to forget them, and besides, it’ll gear me up for a fun/busy/productive (maybe)/restful weekend. How can it be all of those things at once? Well, as things get checked off the list, there’s more room for rest. And as I prioritize resting (or relaxing here and there), I’ll be better fueled to find energy for the other things :)

It’s a grand plan. We have a (n almost) 9 month old. We’ll see how this goes:

1) Continue going to bed before midnight. If my fingers fly fast enough, I can make it!

2) Wake up, take care of Henry, enjoy breakfast, drink coffee, work out. (No expectations on the exact order in which all of this takes place.)

3) Vacuum and wash the floors. Snowy boots+driveway salt+Kruger+day-to-day routine=necessary. Plus, it’s too big a job during the week with the peanut in tow.

4) Start (um…) and finish thank you notes from Christmas. We’re not perfect around here. Nope. But we are thankful. Now just to let people know about that…

5) Read a few chapters in my book club book. I keep telling myself I’ll do this while nursing. Then, of course, the book would have to be on the right floor of the house when I decide such things. If I’m up, it’s downstairs, and vice versa. Two copies? The ability to remember everything when going up and down the stairs?

6) Relaxed time with the boys on Saturday night. We can make this happen. Already on the calendar :) Ok, well…on the agenda. The calendar, as I mentioned, is still in need of an update. It’ll happen.

7) On the subject of calendars, write down Henry’s milestone-ish moments in his calendar. Because there’s a whole lot that changes quickly at his age, and because I’m starting to forget what was when. I really don’t want to make it up. In fact, I refuse ;)

8) Something delicious (and perhaps new?) for dinner one of two nights. One of us has to make a grocery store run anyway–may as well pick up something interesting.

9) Church on Sunday morning. Love it. Need it. Gotta have it. Done.

10) Sunday afternoon family nap. We did this last weekend, and besides the whole gang waking up close to dinnertime, it was wonderfully uplifting. Problem solver: set an alarm.

11) Laundry. Perhaps. You know, as other things are taking place. Like playtime with H in his room or a half hour spent galavanting in the snow. Something delightful to get my mind off the laundry.

12) I dunno. Throw in a random something else that I’ve forgotten here, and that will inevitably come up. Mostly because I’m an even numbered person, and an 11 point list would leave me wide-eyed awake in bed tonight. 12 it is.

And that is all. Seem like a lot? Not enough? Just right? Only the weekend can tell. But if I don’t plan (or at least hope), the odds of any number of listed items making their way into the next two days become drastically reduced. Who knows. Maybe tomorrow we’ll scratch the whole thing and make snow forts all weekend. Maybe we’ll take a random adventure somewhere and ask the dog to handle the laundry. Regardless, I like having a list.

a little less cluttered for the exercise,

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Categories around the house, family, Health, Home, kruger, musings

snow much fun!

15 Jan

We didn’t take full advantage of the generous heaps of snow this weekend because Hank is still a bit too little, but we did spend a short time yesterday goofing off in the backyard. Should have had the camera on manual focus to dodge the gigantic flakes as they fell. The result was a host of outtake-type photographs that, well…I love anyway. Can’t wait for future sledding dates with ALL of my boys (even the pup–he’s the biggest winter weather fan in the family!).

Hope you had the chance to enjoy a bit of the winter wonderland this weekend, even if for a short while!

walkin’ in a…

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Categories family, Henry, Home, kruger

toothless grin.

10 Nov

You never cease to inspire me, HD–you, with that beaming, wide, toothless (and contagious) grin. Over the past few weeks, your sense of humor has blossomed. Add the right intonation or pitch to any random word and away you go, squealing and giggling away. I love how you always pick your chin up when you laugh; how you arch your back off the floor and kick your legs in excitement, assuring me of your approval. Your toys are funny. Rubber blocks are funny. The number “fourteen!” is funny. You continue to light up our lives.

As of late, you have quite the opinion, my dear. Your delight or disapproval is clear as day. You love bath time, story time, jumping in the jumparoo. The baby in the hallway mirror is fascinating. The baby lotion bottle? Even better. You are decidedly not a fan of putting a shirt over your head, waiting an extra few minutes to eat, or hearing the bark of a small dog. Your winter coat? No thank you, mom. The evidence before me would suggest you are exactly your age. Indeed.

In recent days, you’ve hiked dunes (with a little help), proven a perfect backseat travel companion, conquered rice cereal and oatmeal, attempted to crawl (but it’s still kind of a scoot in circles on your tummy), grown even more enamored with our big black pup, and learned to sit up like a pro. Mommy would be so tempted to start growing another little person like you, because you are such an absolute joy…but really, I selfishly want to soak up some more Hank time one-on-one before anybody else comes along. I just love everything about you.

I’ve never made friends with as many strangers as I do now with you in tow. I love how you strike up a conversation, igniting connection and community around us without even saying a word. It’s the most beautiful thing. You make this world a better place for being in it. You do. And I don’t just say that because I’m your mom.

smile away, my babe. smile away!

p.s. Fourteen!

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Categories family, Henry, kruger, musings

oh, poop!

2 Aug

If you’re not into “gross,” this may not be the post for you. Read at your own risk ;)

We (I) had an interesting morning at home today. In short, Henry started things off with the biggest display of diaper fireworks he’s ever managed (cloth diaper, onesie, swaddler and mom’s pj’s all at once); when I cleaned him up, I found evidence as far north as his shoulder blades. Whoa. I managed to stay on the phone with Grandma K throughout the entire process, so it wasn’t devastating or anything, but record-breaking in Henry’s book, for sure. Once I had him all clean and down for a nap, I gathered up cloth diapers for the wash (read: bag full of diapers=hands full coming down the stairs) and only narrowly missed stepping in a large pile of you-know-what left thoughtfully by the d.o.g. If I hadn’t smelled it first, the next few minutes would have been just that much more thrilling.

Thank you, Kruger. You should really consider moving out for a few days, or at least, never doing that again.

Cleaning things up was just a bit of inconvenience on the day, and admittedly, left me slightly disgruntled with the dog (who I had let out to go the bathroom not an hour before). But hey, I’m home, and things happen, right? I’m still trying to forget the close call on the kitchen floor (I don’t even like picking it up in the grass outside), so all I can hear in my head while I’m getting rid of the evidence is “Ew, ew, gross. Ew, gross. Ohhhhh, gross! Ew!”

On the flip side, I’m kind of tickled at how little the diaper event made an impact. I’m am decidedly un-phased by gross baby things, with the exception of wearing Henry’s meal down my back when I’m dressed to leave the house. I’ll keep working on that one. The rest of the day was relatively poop free, and I’m not complaining.

I know how much photos add to the blog and all, and I considered a few–if only for a second, and only to make myself laugh as I scrubbed away any probable germ-y trace. It’s possible I captured one image with my phone and text it to Jason, just so he didn’t feel left out while at work, but I will spare any and everyone else from all but this post. I have subsequently deleted all evidence, anyway. I mean, I do like to maintain a little bit of decorum and class and such;)

thoroughly disinfected and considering a small stock of rubber gloves for the little blue house,

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Categories Home, kruger, musings

early birds.

15 Jul

Henry fell asleep last night around 10pm and slept straight through the night! I first went in to greet the babe at 5:10 this morning, and in between his “I’m hungry and wet. Someone come to my rescue” cries, he was alert and smiley after a long rest. I nabbed about five of those precious hours, which felt great (although I’ll admit, I could still use a few more). And of course, I was happy to see him at such an early hour when he’d not woken me at all through the night.

Naturally, with seven hours of sleep under his belt, our little bug was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a diaper change and feeding. Unlike his usual 5 am-ish awake time, Henry was up and ready to go for the day after he ate. Hooray! He was also ready to dirty two fresh cloth diapers in a twenty minute period, to play for a while, and to head down for his morning nap at 6:30am. I’m not sure whether to be excited or nervous about what the day will hold :)

At any rate, since we’re up anyway, I’ve folded some laundry, fed and let the dog out, pumped milk for a future bottle, eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and am now blogging, and it’s not yet 7am. Maybe we’re early birds after all…

Henry and I are supposed to head out for a walk with a friend in about 15 minutes, and he is fast asleep in his crib. Sweet little bug. Hmmm, now what? I’ve learned better than to wake a sleeping baby (of course), so the contents of our morning at this point remain to be seen. He could be up again in a few minutes, or he could sleep ’til nine. Life with Henry is one choose-your-own adventure after the next!

no worms this morning. i’m still waaaaaay tired ;)

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Categories Henry, Home, kruger, musings

kruger weighs in. (day 15)

9 May

Kruger here. Mom’s been leaving the computer a little more unattended these days, so I thought I’d speak up while I have the chance. There’s a lot happening around here lately, and to be honest, I’m pretty stressed out. For months, mom and dad were always asking me about this “baby,” sometimes even calling it my baby. They made it sound like being a big brother was going to be great fun, and like I should be excited for said baby to arrive. Well. I’m finally putting two and two together, and I’ve realized that this “baby” they were talking about all along is the tiny, loud, curious being who showed up at home almost two weeks ago, and who has been taking the place by storm.

I really don’t understand it. Mom and dad were pretty fascinated with me at one point. I am, after all, numero uno in the pecking order around here. I figured being the eldest would have its fair share of privileges, but it pretty much stinks. Now people pay attention to me when I have to go outside, or when I get too close to the new guy, but that’s about it. I basically spend whole afternoons just hiding away upstairs while the house buzzes with visitors and the baby makes 101 sounds that are unfamiliar and hard to interpret.

And the evenings? Oh, the evenings! So much for putting myself to bed and sleeping soundly through the night. Not anymore. Nope. These days, I’m up with mom and dad at every cry. If I cried in the middle of the night, maybe I could get some attention, too…but that’s just not how I roll.

So I’ve been trying to stay a little more out of the way and feeling like it could be a while before anything is normal again. I can tell that mom and dad feel badly sometimes, because they’ve been giving me extra treats and inviting me over to see the baby when they can protect him and tell me if my nose gets too nosy for comfort. I think they’re trying to be gentle, but with everything going on, I know it’s hard to find extra patience for a big lug like me. I’m not begging for sympathy here–it just feels good to get it off my chest.

At any rate, I do trust mom and dad when they tell me that I’ll like this “Henry” someday, and that we’re going to be best buds. I really can’t see how at the moment, but they haven’t led me astray before, so why would they now? In the meantime, I just look forward to visits from grandparents and other people who can love a dog like me. A walk around the block every so often is nice, and a rub behind the ears does a lab good. Maybe Henry will be able to help with all of that someday. I mean, if he drops enough Cheerios, I guess I could see myself liking him at some stage…

Here’s the little guy today (c’mon, we know mom will post like a million more photos tomorrow):

Yeah, OK. So he’s cute. Fine.

mildly disgruntled, but hanging in there,

kruger (on behalf of mm)

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Categories family, Henry, Home, kruger

take a hike. (6)

24 Apr

Today has been a lovely day. We started out with an easy morning before heading to church for an incredibly beautiful, spirit-filled service. A friend of ours was baptized today, so there was an added significance to an already most-significant celebration. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by Easter and all that it means, but the overwhelmingness of it all is one of the most refreshing, cleansing feelings I know…Christ and his life and death and sacrifice come together and culminate in the Resurrection, and I can’t think of anything more joyful!

After church, we joined dear friends and their family for a wonderful Easter dinner. Not wanting to wander too far from home these days, we were so thankful to have some of our favorite people to celebrate with–even though it’s bittersweet not to be with family on a holiday. After a great meal, we had a few laughs as the little ones took on an outdoor Easter egg hunt. It’s been a long time since we’ve been around kids on a holiday, and there’s truly nothing better than enjoying their excitement with every little toy and each successful discovery. The egg hunt lasted nearly an hour, because every time someone would turn away from their basket, more eggs would magically appear in the yard. “I think the birds keep droppin’ Easter eggs!” was the three year old’s conclusion. And drop they did, until it was time for dessert and everyone had had time to soak in the sheer delight and energy of the hunt.

Not long after, we came home to take Kruger on a pre-promised walk/hike. We know he’s a dog and all, but he never seems to forget when we mention a walk–and besides, I determined a while back that if baby wasn’t here by this weekend, we’d give a hike and some stairs a go, just to see what might happen. So we headed out to a lovely trail with a massive staircase not far from home. The verdict is still out yet on whether stairs do the trick for me, but we had a great time enjoying the weather and watching Kruger sniff every tree trunk and branch along the way. The stairs, I’ll admit, were a challenge, but a good one. There’s nothing quite like a bit of blood-pumping exercise to make you feel accomplished–especially when 39 weeks pregnant. We made sure to capture the moment, just for kicks. The ridiculousness of me climbing a mountain of stairs is below…wouldn’t want you to miss it :)

The rest of the evening was spent catching up with family over the phone, taking care of a few things around the house and enjoying the fact that we’ve had such a great weekend together (movie at home Friday night, a relaxing day yesterday, date night out last night, and then a glorious day today). After all of that, it’s hard not to look forward to the days ahead and whatever this week might hold. Here’s hoping!