2010 Reading List - Updated

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life - Margaret Kim Peterson

Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald

Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives - Wendy Horger Alsup (Women's Group)

Relationships: A Mess Worth Making - Tim Lane/Paul Tripp (Home Group)

Church History: A Crash Course for the Curious – Christopher Catherwood

Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy – Paul David Tripp

Heaven on Earth: Capturing Jonathan Edwards’s Vision of Living in Between – Stephen J. Nichols

Women & Evangelism – Sharon Beougher and Mary Dorsett

The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle – Make Mason

The Hidden Art of Homemaking – Edith Schaeffer

War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles – Paul D. Tripp

The Truth of the Cross – R. C. Sproul

What is a Healthy Church Member – Thabiti Anyabwile

Receiving As Gifts The Homes We Have

I'm sadly almost done with a book I borrowed from a friend. I have enjoyed it so much, I'm kind of bummed it's almost over. Ha! Keeping House: The Litany of Everday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson was a great book by an intelligent woman who apparently loves God, her family, her home, her church and the lost. She also has an outstanding way with words, and she passes on fresh perspective that motivates you as you aim to tackle the most ordinary of tasks (ex: laundry). I was suprised how helpful it was to us, us because I read aloud a good chunk of the book to Dustin.

The book actually hits on everything from attacking your dirty dishes to clothing a household to contentment to giving things away, even things you might enjoy or use. Two particular quotes stood out to me. Actually more than 2, but these will get you started...

There has surely always been a gap between the way people keep their houses and the way they would like ideally to keep them. But many of us, I suspect, are demoralized by the task of keeping house in part because we know that our houses, no matter how well kept, will never look like the palaces in the dream house publications. And so we give up, preferring unattainable ideals to less than perfect realities.
An alternative might be humility and gratitude that in a world in which not all are decently housed, we have been given the gift of a home, plus a willingness to aspire to a more modest ideal and to work to achieve it. Instead of nurturing dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of our present home, whatever we may perceive them to be, perhaps we can turn our energies toward receiving as gifts the homes we have and to creating in them enough order and tidiness to promote convenience and peace and hospitality.

When there are limits to the numbers of things and the kinds of things there are in a house, the house can become a place that moves back and forth comfortably between being messy to being tidy. Houses inevitably become messy because people live there, and they are busy with all manner of things. But if there are places to put things and it is simple and convenient to put them there, then picking up the house becomes a kind of active meditation, like putting a favorite puzzle together and seeing the familiar picture – the tidy house – appear anew.

3 Months!!

Wow!
The calendar says Nate's 3 months today. Hard to believe. My friend Leslie Blair (who just had her 2nd baby boy this MORNING - congrats) said I needed to post an update. Okay, okay! I know this blog has definitely been lacking.

Well, since the little man is 3 months, we'll give you some stats and an update.

Not sure how much he weighs now... it was 13 lbs at the 2 month appointment, and he's definitely grown since then! He's looong with looong Jamie/Dustin feet and looong Jamie/Dustin hands. People say he really looks like Dustin now, but many say that he has my nose. I have stared in the mirror, but I don't really see it. Guess I don't look at my nose enough or something. He can roll over from his belly to his back, but only when he really wants to. He's done it 3 times. Let's see... Nate's grabbing things and focusing on things and us a lot more. He's cooing and even has mimiced my voice a few times. The other day, we had our first "conversation" that went like this...
J: Hi!
N: UGH!
J: Hi
N: UGH!
for about 2 minutes. It was a VERY happy 2 minutes!

He's a funny kid, and we're learning more each week. I feel like we've digressed a little with scheduling/naps, but today's a new day! He still has one "midnight snack" in the wee morning somewhere around 2:00am-ish (slept THROUGH the night a few times, but it didn't stick) but goes right back down. He loves playing with his daddy when he gets home from work. They play "Wipe Out!" on the couch. And, he actually throws a fit if Dustin stops singing/playing. Side story: When I try to do Wipe Out like Dustin, I can only think to sing the Batman song. I have to think pretty hard to remember which tune goes with which song. Sad, huh?

So, he's super happy when he's happy. His smiles are precious, and he's moving and grooving. However, he does melt really fast when he's tired. We're working on longer naps (instead of more short ones) so he can get to that deep, good sleep! He's not a huge fan of Sundays, to put it mildly. Just gets thrown off! He's a very active guy. He LOVES LOVES tummy time. LOVES LOVES baths, but equally HATES HATES when you take him out of the bath. Last night, I was bathing him and he was so happy he started kicking like crazy and trying to scooch down into the water more. You gotta watch him carefully!

You can put him down in one place and he scooches a good ways away - he works hard to grab stuff. He doesn't really cuddle unless he's sleepy or scared. Speaking of, sometimes things scare him out of NOWHERE. Sometimes, a vacuum next to him wouldn't bother him, but then at other times a sneeze will send him over the top if he's tired. It's peculiar and funny and annoying all at once. :)

He kicks when he gets really happy - the air, his little foot piano, the toys on his little tummy time mat we are borrowing from Sarah. He is constantly looking at things, and there are certain things in each room that really captivate him consistently. He stares the mess out of "his red curtains" in the living room. He gets in fights with "his" ladybug on the bouncy seat. He will look at her and start crying and look upset and then he'll smile and make a flirty face. It's quirky. Nate loves his elephant toys, and he cheers for the Michigan Wolverines. :) Oh, and he has started to scratch his bottom when I am changing his diaper. Um... it's really hilarious.

Dustin is an amazing father. I love watching him light up when he plays with Nate, and he tells us how he missed us all day long. He is a huge help. My favorite time is our bedtime routine, where Dustin reads us a Bible story, we sing and pray and put him down for the night. I also love Saturday mornings, where we bring Nate into our bed when he wakes up and we all snuggle.

We definitely aren't perfect or close to it! There are normal tough times, and it's been a huge growing experience thus far. But, it's hard to imagine loving him any more and then the next day you wake up, and love him even more.

I've been all emotional today about our little man (not tears, just really thinking on it) and it's only 3 months. :) I was finishing putting his pictures in his album and remembering the day he was born, so those pics are at the top. The last 2 were taken earlier this week.

And now, blog world, you are very updated about the little man!