15 month stats

this handsome fellow:
*is 24 lbs (50th percentile), just 2 lbs shy of marit
*is 32 inches (75th percentile)
*still has a head in the 95th, just like marit's monster head.
*barely cried when he got his shots!
*has 5.5 teeth
*and is walking about 50% of the time. he has been able to for quite some time, but seems slow about transitioning completely over. maybe he is afraid of change...

wacky cake

this recipe was in some heart-health cookbook my mom had (or was it the newspaper mom?). high cholesterol runs in my moms family even though you have never seen a healthier eater than mi madre. it is all just hereditary in her case. anyway, we grew up eating this fabulous cake that is virtually saturated fat and cholesterol free. the only problem with it is that because it is not as rich as most chocolate cakes, it is easier to just keep eating and eating and eating. the other great thing about it is that you don't even need a mixing bowl. how about it?!

i usually double it and put it in a 9x13
Wacky Cake
* 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 teaspoon vinegar
* 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup cold water

Preparation:
In a cake pan (8x8 for single, 9x13 for double), mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt. Make three wells in the flour mixture. In one put vanilla; in another the vinegar, and in the third the oil. Pour the cold water over the mixture and stir until moistened. Bake at 350°F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it springs back when touched lightly. once removed from the oven i usually put whatever chocolate i have on hand on top to melt for a light frosting (though you don't necessarily need it)

and it looks pretty with nuts on top as well.


we shared this with some sweet friends who were also husband/daddyless for the evening

from the archives

*found this while watching old videos with marit
*this is what my family does when we get together...thanksgiving 2007...we were trying to get marit to smile, but she did not crack one the entire song...such a serious baby!
*this is the week before marit was diagnosed with hip dysplasia
*if you are viewing this from facebook and want to see the video, you have to click "view original item" and go to my blog

marit sat here for more than 30 minutes the other day, which is a long time for a 2 yr old to do anything. when i asked her what she was doing she said: "sitting outside the door.

pig is sleeping."


of course. remember when she was having so much trouble sleeping? she is way past that for now. i never really shared about how it resolved. we prayed more for discernment-manipulation or real fear? though we were initially so frustrated that our entire afternoon naptime and evening time was spent comforting marit, eventually God gave us a sweet grace to enjoy the season. i realized, that i was putting too much pressure on myself and my two year old. sure, maybe she was manipulating us sometimes, but i would rather err on the side of grace. she is two; she does not have to be completely independent in every way just yet. it is ok if she needs me to comfort her-that is why God has given me this gift of being a mother to this sweet child. so we started leaving her door cracked just a little, we put a chair (our comfortable double papazan-so we could sit together and talk if adam was home) outside her door. we would read or talk until she fell asleep. when else would i have found time to read books? we know our dear daughter, though sweet as pie, is shot through with sin like the rest of us. BUT i would so much rather her say :"i wasn't always afraid, but my parents offered me comfort and support anyway" than "i was terrified and they abandoned me." she has moved past that phase for now and no longer needs to see us 'sit outside the door,' but she still remembers it, mentions it often and does that for her pig:).

month day

now that marit and graham are over two and one, i probably don't need to blog about every month day. however, today is a very significant one. graham is exactly 15 months old, which is exactly how old marit was when he was born.

i cannot even begin to describe how much i love and am thankful for my dear children. BUT when i think back to the few months after graham was born when marit (like graham now) did not walk or follow commands besides "no" and still needed to be fed a lot of the time, i just remember it being crazy. God's grace sustained us through a difficult transition (you know, meningitis, stomach viruses, bedrest etc) and the little munchkins have come so far! marit has progressed so far with her hip dysplasia, she communicates very proficiently, she even says "thank you" spontaneously sometimes. graham is so close to walking and being a little toddler. he got his first bloody nose today when he fell over and face-planted. he loves his big sister and pax and cheerios. what a blessing these little people are! how much they teach me about God's Father care and loving discipline.

here-post of random tid-bits

check out this serious bed-head. can you also tell how exquisitely blue her eyes are? she looks so much like my handsome husband. she really has a mullet (is that just how hair grows naturally?), but we are so thankful she has hair...still no haircut.

the picture in the background was painted by my mom. marit has just started to love painting just like her grandma. let me know if you would like a masterpiece. she can make about 10 an hour. i love to watch her paint!

graham is feeling better today. 3 days of 102-104 fever and his lateral teeth just poking through made for a rough few days. sweet husband has been on an unusual schedule (working a lot of nights). sick kid plus less husband has helped me realize that i might should wait before dreaming about getting pregnant with #3. several of my friends are pregnant again and graham is almost a toddler and Bible study started back with several fresh and beautiful babies...we will have more before long. just not quite yet. i know God will fill our quiver as only He knows our good and best.

we have this sweet little book that marit LOVES (even though it is missing quite a few pages). it teaches me too as it has a proverbs 31 theme...i want to be this woman:
the heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of grain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life. prov 31:11-12

poor pax got neutered this week and he is recovering well. they said as we loaded him into the car, "oh, he is so gentle!" don't all dogs get gentle when they are anesthetized? he really is turning out to be quite a wonderful dog though (minus the digging pointless holes in the back yard and occasional gnawing on random household objects. he goes through a BUNCH of raw hide bones. i take him running with me every once in a while and he does so well. in another month or so, his bones will be formed enough for him to do that more regularly.

one more

i forgot to mention that my sweet sister charbar visited after Christmas for a couple days and it was SO much fun. she took this picture of marit and later said maybe she was praying for her 2nd cousin to be born safe and sound (sweet penny arrived the next day).

on another note, found this to be extremely encouraging today...

it's been a while...

it is the third post of the day and i am attempting to update this thing. we haven't been unusually busy or anything, i really just got out of the blogging habit. we did not travel at all this Christmas due to a family funeral and just general exhaustion. though things for adam's family have definitely changed with the loss of his grandmother, we still enjoyed a quiet Christmas eve with his parents who live nearby. one of our favorites was our dear church's family Christmas eve service with candels, carols, worship to set our hearts right for our celebration. we made pancakes Christmas morning, enjoyed each other, sang songs, read the nativity story from the Jesus Story Book Bible (can't recommend this little Bible enough!) and exchanged a few gifts with one another. it was a long quiet day and maybe the most restful Christmas i remember as we usually travel or have gazillions(we do enjoy that too) of family around. adam had the week off and we relished it as a couple and as a family. new years week was a doozy 123 hr work week for sweet dr honey bunny so i just generally felt frazzled and tired (as did he).

in the midst of it all, adam's car acquired a problem we could not afford to fix so we welcomed a bike to our family as adam's transportation. somehow bike-commuting is so attractive to me...resourceful, keeps him fit(he does not have time for other exercise these days), low carbon-footprint (don't laugh...i really am a hippie even if i don't cloth-diaper), and economical. it makes sense for us and we have to save our $ to fix the ac in our subaru come summer. summer heat in the south is no joke! look how handsome he is! it has been frigid here lately so he bundles up.






marit is growing so much in her conversation ability. she truly has become my little companion and comments on nearly everything "whatcha doin' mommy?" "graham, ask kindly!" "can we read peter rabbit?" "daddy's at work? poor daddy.". she is sweet, snuggly, and LOVES to read books with me lately. above she is reading with two of her favorites: uncle abe and grandma. we are forever working a lot on sharing with graham and general kindness to others.



graham has mostly dropped his morning nap. he knows a few more words...loves his "b b BATH!" and he is so close to walking, but just cautious about it. he loves to be chased and to throw and catch balls of any shape or size.

as the new year and the new decade (!!!) have arrived i have thought about this year and what it might hold. i think in my personal, spiritual life i want it to be a year of remembering...remembering that His strength is made perfect in my weakness...remembering who i am in Christ and clinging to that identity...remembering His great sacrifice for me, that radical love He has lavished on me. i want to spend more time remembering and less time dwelling on my insecurities, worrying about the future, comparing myself to others, and feeling sorry for myself when things are tough on occasion. i don't do resolutions, but i do like the concept of a fresh year. 10 years ago i was a junior in high school with aspirations of being a medical missionary in africa and saving the world. i forgot that Jesus already saved the world. i need to remember that and the privilege He has given us of being part of His redemptive work in Africa and in our own families.

we had a quiet Christmas mostly due to our family grieving the loss of adam's dear grandmother who passed away just before the holidays. sweet pearl will be missed indeed and we are so thankful she was able to know marit and graham a little. i never met my great-grandmothers. this photo was taken at easter. pearl is on the left and adam's mom carol is holding graham.

little fellow fun

i'll get around to a real update eventually, but here is some footage of our fun fellow...