blessed beyond measure

I am positively over the moon that we had to pull out the hoodie jacket for playing outside today. Ohh, fleece yoga pants, how I have missed you. We have one overachieving oak tree in our backyard, and today Trey found about a thousand acorns. There weren't many that still had their "hats", so Trey made a game out of finding those. And then he took a few handfuls of them to play on his little playground. New friends, I suppose. Another fall update, because I know you're on the edge of your seat waiting to hear - October is knocking on the door and several pumpkins are still alive and well. Maybe the cooler weather is slowing down the rotting process. Anyway, I have noticed that other houses in our neighborhood have pumpkins out too, so yay! Festiveness all around!

I promise that this is not how we left Trey in his crib at 9:00 Sunday night. But it is how we found him at 6:30 on Monday morning. Edited for modesty. Don't worry, we have a nice collection of un-edited pictures to taunt him with later in life.

Mama: What did you cook, Trey? Trey: Go-goggie. (Spaghetti) Mama: Now what are you making? Trey: Chicken nuggets. Put on Daddy's raincoat? Mama: (Confused, as Brandon doesn't have a raincoat.) What? Trey: (Runs to the door of the pantry and tries to open it.) Daddy's raincoat in here. We go in and Trey shows me the raincoat, which is, incidentally, Brandon's grilling apron.

Like all children I'm sure, Trey has quirks. As strange as some of them may be, we think these things just add to his cuteness. For example... When he is willing to eat dinner, he eats in spurts. After the blessing, he'll inhale about 4 or 5 bites, then push his plate away for a little while. Pulls the plate back to himself, eats a little, pushes plate away. And so on. Turkey sandwiches and chicken nuggets rank as high as cookies. If you tickle him long enough, he'll snort when he laughs. He has invented a new dance, and the only way I can think of to describe it is a bird flapping its wings insanely fast. It's hilarious. He narrates his daily activities in third person. I blame Elmo. He requires acknowledgement of anything he says. If not acknowledged, he will repeat what he said at increasing loudness until we respond. This is pretty funny most of the time. Loses its humor a little four hours into a long-distance car ride. Just a glimpse into the marvelous c...

Trey is a little over 26 months old. He is still sleeping in his crib, but won't be much longer. The short little legs he inherited from me have grown. Trey first started trying to climb out of his crib at the end of July, but could only get his ankle over the rail. He can now get his knee over, and if he knew enough to lean one way or use his stuffed animals for leverage, he'd be out. Hurt, maybe, but out nonetheless. So it's time to move to a toddler bed. This is absolutely monumental and, frankly, horrifying. That crib is like my right hand. Trey is an extremely active child, and does not spend much time in any day being still. Because he is too big for me to rock, the only way I can get him to take a nap is to put him in his crib with a few books and stuffed animals, and hope against hope that he'll wind down enough to go to sleep within an hour, which is the longest I will leave him there. Most of the time it takes the entire hour, and typically the first ...

Trey has learned a Bible verse. We have been working on this for about a month, him repeating what I say. But now he knows the verse and can say it on his own. This is Ephesians 6:2 - "Be tong in a Yud and in His mighty - not tower! - power." (For several weeks Trey said the word "power" as "tower". Now he corrects himself.) Trey has started using his toy tool set to fix his riding toy. Can't quite figure out the pliers or the wrench, but he knows just what to do with the hammer and screwdriver. Last night, he went to work using his tools trying to fix Brandon. After applying the screwdriver rather forcefully to Brandon's belly button, Trey says, "You feel better, Daddy?" On an especially gassy day: "My butt has the poots." And lastly, Trey is really starting to pay attention and internalize things he hears a lot. Over dinner last night, Trey leans across the table to me and says, with an utterly serious look on his face,...

Well, it is pretty much official. My dear husband has been named head varsity boys basketball coach at the school where he works. This is kind of a huge deal, at least in our little bubble. It has been Brandon's lifelong dream to teach and head coach at his alma mater. We have all been praying for this day. And who knew six years ago when Brandon was working as a plumber's helper, that he would have come this far so fast? God has taught him and grown him so much through that time, chipping away at what didn't belong and molding him into a leader, a role model, and a man after God's heart who is using the gradual fulfillment of his dream to impact teenagers for Christ. We are so proud of you, Brandon, and can't wait for the games to begin. Your cheering section is ready. This does mean big changes for our family, with a lot more responsibility on Brandon's shoulders. Trey and I will basically hug him goodbye one day in November and then hug him hello agai...

Trey grew up a little before our very eyes tonight. This was his first night of AWANA at church, in the Puggles class. Due to some unforeseen events, namely nine unexpected two-year-olds, Trey's Papa and I ended up helping out. Trey seemed to have a great time and was very well behaved. Charming. And so time continues its relentless march forward. Babyhood is all but gone. Some days I miss it so much, even despite having so much fun watching Trey learn and grow.

It's been a long time since Trey had me up in the middle of the night. This morning at 3:30 I hear a loud growl through the monitor, followed by whiny cries. Since this is unusual, I went into Trey's room to find him covered in pee, pretty much sleeping in a puddle, and shivering. He cried through the diaper and jammie change, then I sat him in our rocking chair so I could change the sheets. All crying stopped, and he kicked back with his hands behind his head and legs crossed. He was almost asleep again by the time I was done. But he still felt cold. So we wrapped up in a quilt and rocked for a while. He went back to sleep easily. Can't say that much for myself. When Trey awoke later this morning, it didn't take long to realize that he had a runny nose. And when I say runny, I mean gushing. He can barely breathe, and we've lost count of the sneezes. Seems every time we clean his nose he sneezes two seconds later and we have to clean it again. No fever, a...

Hello cool breeze, goodbye sticky! As it has for umpteen years now, the arrival of September 1 has expelled all humidity. Yesterday was a glorious day. Absolutely glorious. Seventy degrees max, ocean-like cool breeze, crystal clear blue sky, the kind of day to make you want to look up at the sky, hold your arms out wide, and just breathe. Beautiful. And the perfect day to ride a tricycle. Or, maybe not really ride . I call it the tricycle hopalong. Trey doesn't use the pedals. Don't think his legs are strong enough. But he can get around pretty fast just pushing along Flintstone-style. The kid loves his tricycle. (It was mine, by the way, in case you're wondering about the antique look.) Trey also spent a little time with our dwindling pumpkin collection. Sigh. Doesn't look like a single one will last until October. They at least seemed a little more appropriate sitting on our porch today, what with fall weather in the air. Welcome, Fall. We're so gl...