Bedmates and Prayers

Most toddlers have a favorite thing to sleep with... blankets ... a teddy bear or some other stuffed animal... etc.

My son does not fall under the category of "most toddlers". He's never taken to any specific thing, and really probably could care less that there are a few of said objects in his crib.

Well, last night, he decided to change that up, when he woke up at 3am and couldn't fall back asleep right away.

Can you guess what he chose?

Meet the graham cracker.

I have a package of these in our bedroom for my "middle-of-the-night-hunger-pains-when-I-don't-want-to-go-downstairs-to-grab-something". And Liam knows this. And sometimes we share them together. Well, Joel brought him in the room (because my poor husband had just gotten home- and no, he wasn't on call!) and Liam asked for oatmeal. I told him it was 3am, and I was not going to make him oatmeal. He asked for applesauce, and I repeated my previous answer. Wide awake by now, he asked for a cracker. I figured I could at least appease this request, so I gave him a quarter of a cracker, and then we went to go read a book and go back to bed. I thought he would eat the cracker. He didn't, but he was on the verge of a vicious meltdown every single time I tried to just take it out of his hand as well.

Although I don't believe in eating food in bed (or drinks for that matter), I was too tired to listen to him cry for who knows how long after I stuck him in bed if I took away the cracker. So after we were done reading a book, I plopped him back in bed, cracker and all. He laid down on his pillow, let me put the blanket on over him, held the cracker up to his chest, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Just like that.

This morning, the cracker was still uneaten. But I don't think I will let him keep this new bedmate.



In other news, it continues to bless me as I watch his thought process during bedtime prayers. Although we pray for his "grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins... friends... etc", he is now starting to throw out names. Last night it was John and Amy K, Cosette, and his great grandpa in heaven. He even threw in there an "I love Jesus" :)

Speaking of heaven... please pray for Joel's cousin John and Teresa Hartter (as well as their families) as they mourn over the loss of their 11mo old girl who passed away Tuesday from RSV and pneumonia complications.

Confused

Most all of Michigan is ready for spring. I know Joel and I are for sure.

Our son on the other hand... well, lets just say he was a bit thrown off by the fact that it snowed yesterday.

So he wandered the neighborhood today, and even ventured out on the main drag to look for the snow he saw falling yesterday. I can just imagine what people driving by must have thought.

Moments like these...

... make a parent smile and and shed a tear :)

Tonight during dinner, Liam told us "pray" (mind you, we had already prayed before our meal).

He then folded his hands, closed his eyes, and said,

 "thank you mama, daddy... ... amen"

And then he smiled at us and went back to eating his meal.

It's moments like those that make your heart melt as a parent, and realize that even despite the hectic days, your child really is learning something right! Oh, to train up a child in the ways of Lord!

Happy Birthday Babe!

My amazing husband turned 28 today (I think... he's told me a dozen times just recently, but I think that any memory storage my brain had leftover after Liam was born has gone out the door with Aiden).

Although I was still sick, it didn't stop us from taking advantage of free babysitting (thank you, Cindy!) and heading down to the lovely Plymouth, where Joel introduced me to yet another one of his favorite pubs, Sean O'Callaghans. I must say, I enjoyed this one and the old atmosphere it brought with it- not to mention the fireplace :)

Besides the calamari appetizer (which was one of the best I think I have ever had- it was atop a lemon caper burre blanc sauce... yum!), we opted for an Irish fare of shepherd's pie, potato leek soup, and bread pudding (again, one of the best I've had, partially because it didn't have raisins in it, but instead was topped with fresh fruit and a caramel sauce!)

Happy birthday Joel! I've thoroughly enjoyed (well, for the most part ;) these past 4 1/2 years with you- you are an incredible godly man, an amazing husband, and the best father our son could have!

In Memory Of

... Joel's grandfather, Ed Bahler.

Upon driving home from our St. Patrick's day excursion, we were told that Joel's grandfather passed away from Alzheimer. He had been slowly going downhill the past few years, but really withered these last few weeks. I did not know him well, but he left such a wonderful legacy, that was clearly evident in the memories of the hundreds of people that visited with the family over this past weekend, as well as with his 8 children, 41 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren. People often liken my husband to his grandfather, both knowing no stranger... Grandpa Bahler was always giving little spiritual cards and magnets to people and always telling jokes.

This picture was taken back when we visited Grandpa at Mulberry on Thanksgiving day

A few of my specific memories of him was...

• Meeting him for the first time at a Bahler get-together that I was invited to attend with Ruth. (Little did I know I would get a proposal from his grandson a few days later!) Always one to take pictures, I found out later that he circulated a picture of me around the FBi building later the next week.

• Him walking into a room where Ruthie and I were sleeping a couple days later... just to say hi and chat with us a bit in the morning hours!

• After I was married to Joel, we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Bahler at their home. I was amused by the parking lines he had painted in his driveway, and enjoyed the typical cheese, crackers, tea and root beer snack so commonplace at their table. Everything was fine and dandy until he looked out the window and saw my car. Ever the Ford lover, he went out with his camera to snap a picture of the Nissan that dared to park in his driveway!

Liam, for his part, didn't get to know his "gait gen pa". But if you ask him where his great grandpa is, he will point up and tell you " heden" :)


What was originally supposed to be the Virkler family vacation ended up being a reunion or sorts in Remington instead, as we all headed to Joel's parents for the visitation/funeral. Although we were meeting under a less then ideal occasion, Joel still was able to make the most of it, seeing his extended family on Saturday, many friends and people he knew on Sunday, and catching up with still more at the funeral on Monday. For my part, I was the first of many in the Virkler house (it took out 8 of us in all!) to end up getting some type of food poisoning/stomach bug, so I ended up missing the all-day Sunday visitation, but was fortunately feeling well enough to make it to the funeral on Monday morning. That evening, Grandpa watched the kids, while all of us siblings were able to head down to Lafayette for a quick meal together. When we came back, we were surprised by a visitor- Uncle Brad had biked over and spent the next couple hours catching up and talking with us, and sharing his ice cream with Liam- they were instantly friends :)

And a trip to Indiana wouldn't be the same if we didn't stop by Five Loaves on our way back up to get some truffles, pecan rolls (and a sandwich)! I really do recommend Danielle's lil bakery/cafe if you are ever in the area!

Because of the funeral, and some type of bug that went around, I didn't take too many pictures. Actually, I only took 3. So here they are...

 

 

St Patrick's Day

A few reasons why I love St. Patrick's day...

• It is one of the few times I will intentionally throw on my sister-in-law's favorite color ;)
• It is my Mom's birthday
• I think it is funny that my husband brags to everyone that I'm really part Irish on this day
• We celebrate by doing one of his favorite things... getting good burgers at the local Irish pub

... even God must enjoy St Patrick's Day a wee bit... He humored me with a 68 degree day- and the crocuses are starting to sprout up! What a lovely green gift! (Although it's supposed to be in the 30s the next couple of weeks...)

Visiting Home

We (minus Joel) had the opportunity to visit my family in Phoenix one last time before the baby comes and Liam is no longer a lap child... gotta love those free Southwest  RR tickets :)

Of course we couldn't begin a vacation without a little bit of adventure though, could we? So since I've been flying high and feeling good for the past month (yay!), Liam decided it was his turn to get sick. And boy did he ever. Tuesday evening (the night before our flight) consisted of my little boy vomiting 7x in a 3 hour period. Not what I call fun. So after a few EXTRA loads of laundry, cleaning his carseat, and talking with my husband, we decided that if he puked anymore during the night or following morning, we would not fly on our Wed afternoon flight. And he didn't. This is what he did. All night. All morning. In the car to the airport. And in the airplane... on BOTH flights (mind you, my son has never slept for more then a half hour on a plane before- too much to see).

In typical God's humor fashion, he waited until we were getting off the plane before he decided to vomit twice. On me. I'm just thankful that God kept his stomach calm til then! And we had understanding stewardesses on the plane. And a fellow passenger who must have thought I looked quite pathetic, because she handed me a package of wipes, saying, "Here, I think you will need these more then me". Praise the Lord too, for an extra change of clothes packed in the carryon! :)

Although he didn't really vomit after that, the next few days consisted of PLENTY of diaper changes and blowouts, as he recovered from the stomach flu. My poor family! I was counting my blessings that God spared me of this bout, as everyone else in my family got sick while I was there (and poor Joel was bedridden back in Michigan!).

But we still had time for a little bit of fun. We went to the railroad park, the MIM, the Ostrich festival and Desert Ridge. Got to have a surprise birthday celebration for my mom (sans my mom, as she was sick that day) with my Aunt and cousins. We got to catch up with Chad and his wife Jordan. And Katie took Liam on a date to Trader Joe's, where he had a blast (I'm not kidding) and came away well-loved by the employees there.

And he made up for the flight out, by not sleeping a wink on the way home. :)

WARNING:

As in times past, there will be a lot of pictures that follow, for the sake of my family...

McCormick Park (aka the Railroad Park)

Liam loved the horses, but had a death grip on my sister during the actual carousel ride

The Ostrich Festival

He was so excited about the "copter" until we got in it... then, not so much

Sporting Papa's hat while watching the ostriches line up

 

Waiting in the summer (I mean springtime ;) heat for the races to begin

Ostrich races... need I say more??

A hot day calls for sno-cones

He loves helicopters... but after he freaked out in the grounded one, we weren't about to pay money to have him scared in one that actually flew. And he was content just watching. :)

 

Not the most flattering of shots, but this is how my son likes to sit in his carseat.

Date Night with Katie

Katie had to buy a couple things at Target and wanted to look at the hats. This one was Liam's favorite.

Grocery shopping for meatballs... and bread... and anything else within reach that he could stick in his cart.

 

Frozen yogurt... he was still sick though and didn't eat any. I didn't complain :)

MIM (Musical Instrument Museum)

We never made it up the stairs for the main portion of the museum... we spent our entire time in the cafeteria (amazing gourmet food) and the hands on section.

Desert Ridge

Lounging Around the House

Lounging with Papa

 

Getting Katie to read him bedtime stories

My son idolizes his Uncle Joel

 

The guys hanging out watching British car shows

Checking out his cool new shades

How you know your son has raided the fridge

Surprise Birthday Dinner at Valle Luna

Me, Danny's gf, Michelle (Doug's fiance) and Doug

 

Joel and Danny

Deja Vu

Not being able to get enough of our friends in Fort Wayne/Leo, we decided to head back down for Mark Miller's concert this past weekend. Mark Miller is one of Joel's friends from back in his college days. He is now a musician, and recently married a lovely girl named Heather. We were able to catch up with them (I met him for the first time) at a coffee shop before the concert, and then while Joel and Jon R headed to the concert, Liam and I hung out with Amy K again. :) We spent the night at the Sauders, and after another lovely day in Leo church we were able to spend a couple hours with Steve and Jane S, before heading back on the road! A quick trip for sure, but still a blessed weekend!

Boots

What can I say other then he loves them?

I had gotten him out of bed, and was about to get him changed when the phone rang. He walked into the office where I was looking like this...

Lending a Helping Hand...

Liam wanted to get involved in helping us paint the house, but wasn't too amused when he discovered just what it entailed. No matter how messy his face clothes and anything else around him gets while he is eating, if the least bit of food gets on his hands during a meal, it must be immediately wiped off... so what do you think his response was when he ended up touching a wall of wet paint? He ran into the kitchen where his Mama was making dinner, hysterical about the "yucky" on his hand. :)

And of course, this Mama came to the rescue. But not without snapping a picture (or two) of it first!

Pointing to the "yucky" on his hand

Showing the "yuckies" to Mama... I love his face :)

I guess if this is his reaction though, who knows when I'll be able to do those cute handprint/footprint  artwork!