The Silence is Broken...

At least temporarily. I miss blogging. I really really miss blogging. But I haven't figured out how to fit it into my life again, with this new normal of two kids, and a new house, and a new life in Chicago. Everything *still* feels new these days - and not new as in shiny and pretty and flashy, but new like different and mysterious and somewhat unsettling. I'm sure this new normal will fit us soon enough - we're just breaking in our current Chicago life, like a new pair of shoes. Until then I'm doing mostly just the essential things... But I do hope to start blogging more regularly again soon.

However, the idea of "catching up on the blog" feels quite daunting - we've had so much to write about lately! Jack's amazing birth and his first few months with us, Brooks's new role as big brother, our departure from Nashville, our new home here with a whole new life in Chicago, Brooks's third birthday, Thanksgiving adventures, etc ... It's over-whelming just thinking about it. So instead, I'm going to shelve all of that right now and talk about something else.

Christmas. It's here again - unbelievably... where has 2009 gone!? We'll be packing up and heading South to see my family in less than two weeks, just after my 35th birthday. For the second time in my life, I have a newborn son at Christmas time - what a particularly meaningful way to look at the Christmas story from the eyes of Jesus's mother. I love cuddling Jack when he's sleepy or making him laugh during his play time. Last night, as I fed him in the middle of the night, I realized that we don't have too many more of these wee-hour feedings (hopefully!) left and I should savor the quiet time with just him ... I do so love new babies.

Having a vivacious three year old in the house has also made Christmas 2009 really fun. Brooks is absorbing all of it, and beginning to learn what Christmas means - we've been reading Christmas books and talking about celebrating Jesus's birthday, playing with a new nativity set,


and enjoying an advent calendar with little nativity toys to velcro into place around the stable each day. Christmas songs are playing around the house all day long, and I've loved hearing Of the Father's Love Begotten and Come Thou Long Expected Jesus in services this month. Sarah Groves' To Be With You is echoing in my mind constantly. And when we strolled to the grocery store together Wednesday night, Brooks was squealing with delight as he spotted one house after another with "twinkly lights" in the windows and on doors, decorating trees and front gates. It's different than my childhood - competing with my sister to see who will count the most house lights as we drive through middle TN - but just like me as a kid, he particularly loves the colored ones.

The big event so far this season has been the procurement of our very first Christmas tree. (I know, I know! I've been married for 6.5 years and have a three year old son and haven't had a tree before. It's just wrong!) After scoping out several places in our neighborhood for the best Frasier Firs, we went to a local nursery and picked out a beautiful fragrant tree, just perfect for our front window.


Can you tell the boys are happy!? I think Brooks was a bit enthralled by the whole event - picking out the best one, tying it to the roof of our car, unloading a real TREE, INTO THE HOUSE! Wow! The next day the lights appeared, and the following day the ornaments arrived. The first morning he saw the tree fully decked out, he did several laps around it pointing to ornaments, asking "what's this one, Momma? And this one? And this? and THIS?!" It was precious. He sang at the top of his lungs "that's our Christmas TREE!!" (where is the video camera when you need it!?) and asked if it was already Christmas Day yet. Now several days later, I sometimes catch him standing at the tree and just looking or gently touching the bottom ornaments (cloth or hard plastic ornaments, ie the indestructible ones, hang from the bottom branches) or he'll ring the little silver bells that we took home from Molly and Trace's wedding in December of 2006. What a sweet little guy!


Here's another favorite picture from this week... Brooks received a fantastic gift from our friends Yang Ping and Shireen - he loves playing "London" with a set of wooden toys from Hamley's Toy Store and I love that it gives us the opportunity to talk about double decker buses, Bobbies and Beef-eaters, Big Ben and the Tower of London, reliving some wonderful London memories. The day I snapped this picture, Brooks informed me that the policemen were in the forest guarding the boy (himself)...


Life is full and moving fast. Jack is already three months old! But I'm still savoring as often as I can, attempting to enjoy my sons rather than "manage" them. Christmas celebrations have certainly helped with that in the last week!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Deuce's Due Date

I've put aside blogging this summer, given all the other things that have taken our time and attention, but after seeing the movie Julie and Julia (which I highly recommend), I've decided I just can't let it go permanently - I love it too much! So here's a quick update...

Today is the day that we've been expecting the arrival of our second son (nicknamed Deuce by his father) but I think the day will surely now come and go without his appearance. I had my 40 week check-up today and the Vandy midwife (my primary caregiver for this delivery) said that I'm still just 1 centimeter dilated, and the baby has not yet dropped. I guess he's just enjoying the last few snug days in Momma's belly.

Brooks is enjoying Momma's belly these days too. Our good friend Tonyamas, wife of Eric's college roommate, was in town a couple of weekends ago with a group of E's college friends and she took a few shots of us. Here are some of my favorites! :)


Presumbly, our last sitting as a family of three...


Brooks loves to "give Baby Brudder a hug" every day and will regularly talk to him through the microphone of my belly button.


Come out, little man, we can't wait to meet you!

I'm sure there will be additional, more frequent updates soon, when we have a new family member to introduce ... stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day, Eric!

Just a quick note to my darling husband, who is such an amazing dad in so many ways. I could not say enough how GRATEFUL I am for Brooks to have you to look to as a role model.

Thanks to you, our home has a strong leader, a rock solid foundation, and a wonderfully fun playmate for all our leisure time, to speak nothing of your abilities to carry everything - EVERYTHING - when we travel together! :) I love you so much and am so grateful to share this adventure of life with you!

A few favorite recent shots... Here are the boys enjoying the sunshine and shade in Kew Gardens while Aunt Sissy was in town...


And here are two from a lazy day earlier this month, when Brooks wanted to join Dada on the couch to read. Brooks climbed up and over him with his book and then got very tickled when Mama wanted a picture! :)

Last full weekend in London

I can't believe that we're now counting our time left here in hours, rather than in days, weeks, and months. Today was our last Sunday at Holy Trinity Brompton, our church home for the last two years. Worship was amazing - it was as if God prompted the worship leader to choose all songs that had significance to me from both our time here and from back home. The sermon was about God's calling and was based in Joshua - much encouragement and practical take-aways for my heart right now. We said goodbye to several friends that we've seen weekly or more in the creche and at Tots n Toddlers, even since Brooks was less than a year old. It's strange to say goodbye to the children especially, knowing that I've played with them for most of their lives, and wondering when if ever we'll see them again.

Last Thursday was our last Tots and thankfully Brooks *didn't* have his best day. I say thankfully, because managing a tired, hungry toddler who didn't really feel like dancing and singing at the end of our playday, made several goodbyes less dramatic - just strap him in and run! And we definitely have lots of fun pictures of him enjoying Anke's songs and motions earlier in the summer, so no loss there!

Friday morning we got our final "preview" ultrasound of Baby Boy #2. Even though he was quite shy, we were able to confirm that yes, it's another boy! The tech saw healthy growth and development and guessed that at the current rates, our little man wouldn't be that little by his due date - 8 or 9 pounds most likely - not shocking given my size at this point and the strength of this baby's movements! Brooks really enjoyed seeing Baby Brudder on the screen - when #2 yawned, Brooks thought it was hysterical. He was also quite happy to tell the tech all about his own role as Big Brother and pointed to where #2 was kicking his own belly! What a hoot!

Friday night we had a lovely goodbye party with a few friends from our pastorate, and we shared it with another HTB friend, Hannah, who is getting married next month and moving to Singapore. We got to have unhurried conversations with several people who have really become like family to us and let Brooks run around and be loved on by the whole group until wayyy past his bedtime! At the end, they spent about an hour toasting us with stories and memories and compliments, and then laid hands on us and prayed for us. There was many beautiful, humbling words shared of the impact we had on others - both direct (serving in Pastorate, etc) and non-direct (observing us parent, watching us be married and *work* on our relationship, etc) but I must say the most striking thing to me was how very much we are leaving behind here. It wouldn't always have felt that way. Several of the people in the room we didn't even know when we went home for Christmas 2008 - we've been so incredibly blessed that friendships have continued to form here, right up until the very end. Some of these new relational roots are small, but they are roots just the same, and we are certainly disrupting a lot of earth to rip them out when they are so fresh. Along with a handful of very close friends, we have so many who feel like they *could have been* closer friends, if we'd only had a bit more time. I have so many ... I can't say regrets, it's just not the right word, but... maybe unfinished relationships to bid farewell to. It's probably good to feel sad about leaving (how many times over the last year have been ready to fly back home THAT DAY!), but oh, the goodbyes are hard.

Eric pointed out recently that these London goodbyes are even harder than saying farewell in Chicago, because when we left in August 2007, we told everyone "see you at Christmas" and "its only 100 weekends, we'll be back!" As we leave London, we do so without any immediate plans to return, and it feels very, very different knowing how much could change in our little London community before we're back here among them again. I've never been more thankful for email and Facebook and all our digital connections.

Saturday morning was spent at Portobello Road, the antiques market in our neighborhood, and we purchased a bit of a "Goodbye London" gift for ourselves - a lovely antique (18th century) map of Europe, from one of my favorite shop keepers. I rounded out my trio china collection (a trio is a cup, saucer and tea plate, so very English!) and our friends Yang Ping and Shireen bought Brooks his very own kid-sized rugby ball. Too fun. We returned home to Eric's homemade crepes, and then during Brooks's nap time, our friend Becky came over to lend a hand as we started physically sorting through wardrobes and piles, in preparation for the movers coming this week. It felt good to work on it together with Eric and Becky, as rather than just tacking two or three drawers slowly on my own, we got through almost the entire back of the house in one afternoon - wahoo!! That evening, Yang Ping and Shireen cooked us a feast of Malaysian dishes - chicken and fish and veggies, yum yum! with Yang Ping's own creation for a fruity dessert. Becky returned to our home to spend the night and go to church with us... and we chatted for a few minutes before collapsing into bed.

All in all, I would say that Eric and I are doing quite well as we tackle an amazing and exhausting list of tasks that need attention during this transition. Eric's taken the yeoman's share by far, and when he's still for any length of time, he falls asleep in about 2.3 seconds. But we're both supporting each other, and communicating well, and being as patient and gracious as we can when the stress gets more intense. Unfortunately, I am sick again with another sinus infection/painful ear ache - the resulting energy drain is horribly timed. But the good news is that it forces me not to push myself too hard to get everything done - probably a wonderful blessing at 32 weeks pregnant. We have Eric's massive to-do list that keeps us organized (we do love excel!) and we have the urgency of knowing that the movers arrive Thursday to keep us motivated!

If you're inclined to pray for us, please pray for my health and our renewed energy, our continued grace and kindness to one another in the midst of our activity and stress, Brooks's ability to go with the flow and process as best he can all the changes and chaos he's living through, and most critically, for good goodbyes here. We want to finish strong and well and lovingly. It feels important and I don't want that goal to be trumped by the urgent.

Our 100 weekends (actually 98, but who's counting?!) is down to 100 hours before the movers take away all our things, and then the end will really be upon us. I am so glad as I look back on all this time for all of the many blessing we can count, as well as the knowledge that I have even that much more to look forward to back home.

One photo to end with. This is Brooks and his girlfriend Abby, solidifying their friendship in the Garden across from our flat last week. What cuties! They clearly like each other - don't you think?


Lots of love from London!

Soon-to-be Big Brother

Brooks turned two and a half years old this week - how is that possible?! Every day, I look at him and think "he's not a baby anymore. What a grown-up little man!"

As evidence, check out this photo taken on Tuesday. He's in the hospital (the one I would have given birth in, if we planned to stay in the UK for the arrival of #2) and holding Annarose Ruth Grizzle, daughter of our dear friends and neighbors Heather and Ben, and little sister of his girlfriend Abby.

He is so proud of himself for holding her carefully, and practicing being a "big brudder". What a sweetie.


Ann, another friend from Pastorate, and her 3 month old Aiden were also visiting Heather and Annarose at the hospital while we were there. We had kids at 2.5 years old, 3 months old, and 15 hours old in the room together, and it was such joy to see young happy life everywhere.

We can't wait to meet our own new little one in (hopefully) less than three months!

A Rest in my Bathtub

Brooks has decided recently that his crib is simply too far away after bathtime, and he wants to just curl up in the bath for a rest. This video is from about 6 weeks ago, but we do this little ritual about once a week. I love the little contented sigh when I cover him up. Do you want us to turn the lights off? No! What a cutie!

Writer's Block

Wow! In the last few weeks, massive writer's block has hit me with regards to this blog. I'm sure it's not from lack of material. Life has not slowed down in the least over the last 2 months - in fact, it's definitely picked up its pace as we've tried to savor our final season in London. But I think all my creative juices have gone into this growing baby in my belly and trying to keep a silly, happy, energetic two and a half year old productively occupied! Here's to new blogging inspiration!

What's on my mind today? We've just welcomed two new babies into our family of dear friends! Deborah in Colorado gave birth to her second, a son, yesterday and Heather in London, gave birth to her second daughter, Annarose, in the wee hours of the morning today. Brooks will have lots of opportunities to interact with both of these dear babies soon, and I'll take the chance to suggest no eye-poking nor any breath-restricting hugging to prep him for his little brother's arrival! Two more dear friends are also eagerly awaiting little ones in the next week - Becca in Florida and Laurel in DC. What a great spring for new life! Congratulations, sweet friends.

London is beautiful in this season. The little hidden courtyard gardens tease and beckon me to peek over their tall brick walls with lush roses bushes and lilac and wisteria in full, fragrant bloom. The trees are all wearing their summer leaves now and the green grass lays like a blanket on all the parks nearby. I love the sound of the strong wind blowing through those leaves outside my window in the garden. I will miss the expanses of green everywhere, once we're back in Chicago.

Our washing machine is finally functioning again - actually a new one has replaced the old. I'm so glad to be done schlepping our things to the laundromat, even though Brooks might be a little sad about it. He now enjoys one of his favorite stories - "A Pocket for Cordoroy" - even more than before! This morning, we greeted the two Iraqi men who own our local laundry with waves and hellos and high fives. Brooks thinks of them as friends now, and they grinned at him for a couple of blocks as we approached. This neighborhood has finally started feeling like home.

Love to friends and family far and near. More photos and stories to come soon.

Extreme Sheep LED Art

Yes, you read that title correctly. Extreme art using Sheep and LED lights. Just one reason why I love this crazy country.

Thanks to my vet friend, Becky, for sharing this with me.

Enjoy!