Sunday Portrait Series: taming the beast

Judson is busy, high-energy, active, crazy, wild, adventurous.

whatever you want to call it. 

 

Most one year olds are.

I think that he's like most other toddlers, but most often when we're in public someone will comment on just how active and busy he is. 

Maybe he was born with an extra dose of energy and curiosity and crazy. I'm not sure.

He is a LOT of fun.

like most parents, we spend a lot of time laughing at his antics and totally entertained by his musings. 

I really am so excited about his spirit and am eager to see how and where it will be channeled!

in the meantime, our focus is safety. 

seriously. 

he climbs and runs without regard for what is actually under his feet or in front of him.

sitting still is completely contradictory to his nature.

insert parental influence.

our church family is wonderful and geared towards children. Our youth program is huge and growing weekly. the leadership team does an excellent job on making kids feel welcome, loved and eager to return!

Judson loves, i mean LOVES, to go to class, or "kaaa". 

His teachers are energetic and involved and he just bounces on my hip as we walk towards the building on Sunday and Wednesdays.

so, that part is great.

it's the sitting in the pew after class and before the nursery-during worship and communion- that is rather daunting. 

He likes to clap and "make a joyful noise" along with the praise and worship, but rarely sits still during prayers, communion and announcements. 

bless. 

GT and I are firm believers in kids having self-control and learning to be quiet with their mouths closed.

we know that JR is high-energy, but he is (or will be) just as capable as sitting on a pew with the rest of us. 

before he turned one, we would pass him around between family members, taking him to the foyer to play or walk around the back of the auditorium whenever he'd get fidgety or fussy.

then, we decided it was time to start some good-ole pew-training.

time to put the brakes on floating from person-to-person and teach our kid how to get a hold of himself.

He is still rather young and doesn't completely understand, but we thought it was time to start the work!

from behind, I'm sure that I look like a personal jungle gym.

and sometimes, like JR's straight-jacket.

but, i will not budge.

we are going to win this battle.

GT is firm in this and we are in agreement.

so, in the meantime-if you see or hear strange things from our pew....we are in training. 

carry on and i hope that we are not too distracting.

someday, i pray, that our family provides zero distraction from others in church because our kids (for the most part) will know how to hold it together for an hour.

it might take 15 years, but we know our goal and are determined.

soap box: there are just as many adults who can't sit still during church.
cell phones, coffee/bathroom breaks, etc.
i'm just as guilty!
so, i'm re-training myself to just be still and listen. 

(p.s. we are new to this parenting gig, so we are open to any and all advice, suggestions, thoughts on wrangling kids.)

at least he's figuring out how to comb his hair.

right.

also, yes. GT dressed him.

halfway there and many moons to go

Katelyn: "GT, do I look like a 14 year old boy?"

GT: "No way."

"definitely 16"

honesty is something we've worked on in our marriage.

i'd say that he's got it down. 

in his defense, i did purchase this shirt in the boys department at Target.

so i'll give him that.

also, my hair. 

not so lovely.

this morning, i took a shower (i'm usually a night shower-taker) and then proceeded to blow-dry my hair.

Judson started crying and backing away

this leads me to believe that this was his first encounter with the hair dryer.

dude had no idea what i was doing and what that contraption was. 

so, if we're going off of this little interaction....i have not fixed/styled my hair fresh out of the shower, at home in a bout a year. 

score! or total fail.
bright side: my hair has avoided the heat of a hair dryer!

carrying on with more important deets. 

little love bundles no-name boy is a little over half-way womb grown. 

i asked GT to take these photos last night, after i got home around 930 from Heart to Home.

i just felt like we needed some documentation of this child's intrauterine growth. 

and there's no time like the present...snap that iphone!

GT: "you know that you're being really cheesy, but you do it anyway".

yes.

this pregnancy is going by so very, very quickly.

i feel great and am starting to feel little buddy doing his karate!

Judson keeps me moving, so sometimes it's easy to forget that i'm caring for another human.

then the heartburn or hunger or fatigue or the need to unbutton my pants strikes and i promptly remember.

we are looking at a great weekend ahead.

full of studying, enjoying the sunshine and a little rodeo outing.

cheers to the mid-way point!

every so grateful for these little mile markers

and a healthy little love nugget

hold up! wait a minute

i woke up this morning breathing a big deep breath.

a huge sigh.

last week was one for the books- some good, some great, some bad and some scary.

life-changing really.

it was a full, productive, meaningful, eye-opening and busy week.

so, that makes us good and active people, right? 

contributing citizens to our society. hard workers, conscientious and diligent do-ers. 

Starting last Sunday night:

Superbowl watch party with the parents- lowkey, but still something to do.

Monday- We find out we are having another son!

(little love)

I have high school girls bible study that night at our house.

 GT is busy with work conversations until late

Tuesday- I have clinicals at the pediatric clinic, Judson goes to Mothers Day Out.

around 3pm, GT calls and tells me that his dad is at the hospital with chest pain.

I start cooking dinner around 5 in between studying, we have company staying with us for a few days.

that night, it is confirmed that my father in law, Mark, had a heart attack.

around midnight, we take JR to my parents.

I stay up until late to continue studying for a test. 

Wednesday- 5am GT's brother, Garrett is at our house-we leave for Huntsville to go see my father in law.

I study most of the way there, and catch some sleep.

930-arrive at hospital, Mark is doing really well, praise God!

130pm-go to Starbucks for some free WiFi and take test...yikes.

3pm-back to hospital, Mark is getting out of ICU!

6pm-drive back to West Monroe

1030pm-clean house, visit with company staying at our house

prepare JR's bag for next day

Thursday- planning on clinical, JR's Mothers Day Out is cancelled-change plans.

GT gets up early to lead bible study at work

comes home for lunch and we both pack our bags

he flies out to Vegas for work after a meeting with Under Armour here

JR and I head to Tyler 

Friday-spend an awesome and super fun day with Jake, Jamie, Beau and Luke!!!

hear that Mark gets to go home!!!

GT has busy day in Vegas

Saturday- i head home from Tyler

GT heads home from Vegas

good to be home. stay up late doing homework

Sunday- church, which is wonderful

homework 1pm-1am (my fault, assignment was due at midnight...should've done it last week)

GT cleans the house/does laundry/takes care of Judson/rubs my back during study breaks/is awesome

and i didn't even go to work one day! how is that for productive?!

Monday morning.

new week. 

refreshed

taking care of business.

Mark is home and doing well! the best news. 

It was a busy week.

usually, we are busy.

we always have been, always are, always will be.

That's our M.O.
we do things we enjoy. we are with people we love. our relationships keep us moving.

This week, though, was pretty atypical.

going from finding out that our life will be filled with brothers! to learning your husbands dad had a major heart attack. 

what a range of emotion!

at that point, our priorities changed and our focus was precise. we needed him to be well.

he is healthy, strong and active. not a typical candidate for a life-threatening event.

his health-his life-was our only concern. 

we praise God for his quick recovery and healing that is already taking place!

obviously, in this life there are events that occur that required busyness and action.

illness

school

work

children

but, on what can i alter the speed?

what can slow down?

what if productivity is not the indicator of a good day?

what if saying "i got a lot done" is not the sign of a successful week?

Jessi from Naptime Diaries shared a wonderful and encouraging post this morning (per usual). 

Just what the Dr. ordered.

Notes From a Blue Bike is written by Tsh Oxenreider, founder and main voice of The Art of Simple. 

i'm not sure what "slowing down" looks like for me, for us.

i really don't know how to do it.

or if we need to do it

i feel like i always say... "we will slow down after i finish school"

"we will slow down this summer"

"we will slow down after we finish working on the house, the barn, the yard, blah, blah"

"we will slow down when _______"

maybe our speed is just right for us?

it usually suits me just fine.

but, i want to slow down and be more intentional about what i teach my son, what i say to others, what i do for others, how we care for others, how we love one another, where we go and who we are with.

not what needs to be done, etc, etc.
i never want our busyness to invade our time for relationship with others

Tsh Oxenreider says it best, for me.

so.....yeah, what she said!

a really great Saturday

(from 2 or 3 Saturdays ago)

my favorite start to a Saturday goes a little something like this:

receive group text from my Dad to me, Mamaw Jo and Mamaw Lou: CB at 9

and confirmation responses follow

Cracker Barrel at 9am on Saturdays has been the norm for a few years.

i'm not sure why it still requires a text message reminder, but apparently it does.

Next on my list for a favorite start to a Saturday goes something like this,

"GT, what do you need to do today?"

GT: "just piddle"

that my friends, is indicative of a good-a very good-Saturday.

this usually means that hunting season is over. 

the rest of the day included a good nap for JR, GT and I bought a new cabinet from a flea market, some homework and housework for me, GT and Garrett built something, Dad and JR did some work on the tractor.

I can't really remember what we did that evening, but it probably included me or mom cooking some dinner and a super casual night of eating and movie or football watching. 

now that is my kind of Saturday.