As Jasper and I were driving around town today, I was struck by how truly precious this time with Jasper is. Before Jasper learned to talk, my driving time was rather quiet, interrupted only by the radio, horns, or my occasional singing and praying. NOW, however, they are so interactive and observant; little Jasper not only notices everything but also comments on it all and keeps up a running commentary the whole way to, say, BSF. Then the whole way from bsf to Meijer. Then the whole way from Meijer to home. It is so. incredibly. precious and today I found myself savoring each moment of his running commentary and clinging to this special time with him, my little buddy and sidekick. I know this running commentary is going to be gone before I know it and I thank God for this truly special time in my life.
I invite you to take a quick peak into my car ride from this afternoon:
As we're loading up in the car to leave for the morning:
"WOOK (aka look)!! momma!! Ah! Wook, dere's a weaf (aka leaf) on the fwoor! Wook, Momma! The weaf is hiding from baber! itsa cwunchy weaf. itsa not a smoove weaf. itsa cwunchy weaf. If Baber steps on da cwunchy weaf, it goes, 'cwunch cwunch cwunch cwunch.' Like dat. Ah!! Silly weaf! AHAHAHAHA! Cwazy weaf!!!! Smoove weaves do not go cwunch. only cwunchy weaves go cwunch cwunch... Baber's seat belt wight dere!! Dat's baber's seat belt. Mommy's seat belt is up dere but Baber's seat belt is in Baber's seat."
pulling out of the garage:
"Baber going backwards! Mommy and baber's car going backwards! AH! now forwards. Mommy and baber's wittle white car going forwards now! Where'd dadda's wittle bwack car? oh. Dadda's wittle bwack car at Bofferfrom. Dadda be home time for ninner. Dadda works so hard for us. Going down the hill. Baber's wittle white car going down the hill now. Turning, turning. Going on Southampton now!! Baber's wittle whit.... AH! RED wight means stop!! mommy, stop! Red wight means stop. Oh! gween wight now. Gween wight means 'go, go weally fast! turning. turning. turning. Baber's wittle white car is turning now. Baber on Wess Bwoad Street!!'
Pulling onto West Broad street:
"OHHH!!! Wook mommy!!!! Escavatatatator!!! (aka excavator) Escavatatatator has arm. Arm has hydrolic pistons on it. Hydrolic pistons have wawa (aka water aka fluids) help it move wike this. backward, forward, backward. Pick up dirt. The arm has uh shobel (shovel) and da shobel picks up dirt. Then dump dump dump dump. Da wittle Escavatatatator arm with da shobel dumps the dirt in the back of the dump truck. Den da dump truck goes, goes, goes, goes... dump truck weally woud (aka really loud). Dump truck weally woud. But dump truck goes, goes, goes, goes, and dumps da dirt in big pile! Den da gwada (aka Grader) pushes da dirt like this. Push, push, push, push, push, push, push, push. Like this. Wook Mommy. Da gwada pushes the dirt like this. push, push, push... OH WOOOK MOMMY!!!!!! Dat guy has no shirt on!!! He has pants on! He has shoes on! he has socks on! he has a hat on! But he has NO shirt on!! Cwazy guy! AHAHAH! Cwazy guy!!! Oh look!! MOTOTOTOTOTOCYCLE!!!! Wook at that hoooooooge (huge) motorcycle!!! 2 peoples on da motorcycle! 1 people isa guy, and 1 people isa guwl (girl). Dose guys hab no helmets on but da guy is holdin on to da hanndabars (handlebars). Da guy holds on weally tight to keep him safe. Da motorcylce's weally woud sometimes. Sometimes, itsa not weally woud. Sometimes it's quiet like this: 'vrrrrmmmm.' but sometimes itsa weally woud like dis: "VVRRRRMMMMM!!!" OH WOOK MOMMY!!!! Buldozer right dere!!! Dere's a bulldozer right dere and da guy isa pickin up poles! Da guy is dwiving da bulldozer and he has a helmet on to keep him safe. When Baber gets big like daddy and if baber wants to, baber can ride a morocycle but Baber MUST wear a helmet to keep him safe. Like dat guy right dere! Dat guy is wearing a helmet to keep his head safe. Good job, guy!!! OH WOOOOOK MOMMY!!! A gas twuck! A cement twuck!! Dat truck have no twailer (trailer) on! Dat truck is bobcatting (official term for a truck without a trailer, we learned from a trucker at small groups). Dat poor truck is bobcatting. Dat truck needs to go to da gawage and pick up his twailer. Den he won't be bobcatting anymore. Dose guys workin weally hard to make a new road for us. Dose guys go home in time for ninner. Dose guys hab a mommy to make 'em ninner. Does guys working weally hard for us. Oh wook mommy!!! 3 guys have helmets on, but one guy does NOT hab a helmet on! Cwazy guy! Cwazy guy needs a helmet to keep his head safe. When Baber gets weally big like Dadda, Baber can ride a......."
at this point, we've maybe gone a mile down the street. He keeps this up the entire time we go anywhere! It's the most precious time. I just drive, listen, smile, pray, and enjoy this little guy God has given us!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Scentsy
Jasper loves Scentsy even more than I do, if possible. His morning chore is to turn on 3 Scentsy warmers and make sure they have adequate wax in them; he loves this chore and takes it so very seriously! It's precious!! :o) I'm preparing for my first "real" Scentsy party tomorrow and I let Jasper play with the discontinued scents... he was in heaven! He has been carrying them around in a basket all day. Eating with them, sleeping with them, showing them to neighbors (and strangers!), playing with them, and crying when we separate him from the basket in order to wash his hands. The picture below says it all!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
1st day of bsf
This morn, Jasper woke up SO SO very excited to go to bsf, Bible study fellowship, today! This is our first one of the year and, boy, have we missed it! Jasper immediately asked if he could be "handsome" for his class, so we picked out a "handsome" outfit, got out his new fall shoes, put gel in his hair, and picked out a special blanket for quiet time. He was so very eager and it just melted my heart to pieces! It's such a blessing to my heart to be a part of a bible study that my 2 year old LONGS to go to and looks forward to each week with eager anticipation.
I asked him if he remembered bsf from last year, and he said, "Des (aka yes). sanitizer an' music." (bsf leaders are very quick to put hand sanitizer on the children many times throughout the morning class, so Jasper hit it right on the head with his answer. :o))
Anyway, as he excitedly walked into his class this morning, I found my heart begging the other kids to be nice to him, to play with him, for the teachers to love him, etc. He's such a tender little guy with a sensitive heart and I was just begging the Lord for him to have a good morning. And he did!!
Anyway, we are very excited to be back in the swing of things with bsf and here's a pic of J that I took right before we left. Also, today is special b/c it's the first day Jasper has helped me highlight my hair. It was quite a fun, bonding experience and Jasper got the biggest kick out of making my hair look "crazy"! :o)
Life is good!
I asked him if he remembered bsf from last year, and he said, "Des (aka yes). sanitizer an' music." (bsf leaders are very quick to put hand sanitizer on the children many times throughout the morning class, so Jasper hit it right on the head with his answer. :o))
Anyway, as he excitedly walked into his class this morning, I found my heart begging the other kids to be nice to him, to play with him, for the teachers to love him, etc. He's such a tender little guy with a sensitive heart and I was just begging the Lord for him to have a good morning. And he did!!
Anyway, we are very excited to be back in the swing of things with bsf and here's a pic of J that I took right before we left. Also, today is special b/c it's the first day Jasper has helped me highlight my hair. It was quite a fun, bonding experience and Jasper got the biggest kick out of making my hair look "crazy"! :o)
Life is good!
Monday, September 9, 2013
hot and humid
today is hot, humid, and close to 90 degrees, which comes as quite a shock to my system since all of August was cool, breezy, and in the '70's! At a loss of what to do today since the pool's closed and I'm a sweaty pregnant gal who shirks any contact with humidity if at all possible, Andrew suggested putting Jasper in a swimsuit and playing in the yard with the hose.
It was perfect!
It was perfect!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
few tidbits...
Like normal, I don't have much time to write. Jasper's down for his nap, and my weary preggo body is screaming for me to go take a nap, also. Through tried and failed efforts, I have now learned the wisdom in sleeping any chance I get. I know I'm a wimp. But being the pregnant mom of a (very!!) energetic toddler is truly exhausting for me. So anyway... I'm headed up to take a nap. But there were a few tidbits I wanted to write down.
- Duck Dynasty. one word- awesome. It's my and andrew's new favorite thing and we're either watching it or thinking about when next we can watch it. :o)
- hydraulic pistons- Jasper's newest favorite thing. He loves to talk about them, point at them in books, point at them on the excavators on West Broad, dream about them, talk about them, talk about them, talk about them. It's pretty precious!
- bsf- starting soon and I can't wait!!!
- corn meal much- I just discovered that Meijer's sells it for $1.39 a roll!! And all my life, I thought one could only buy it at Amish Country stores!! It's been the highlight of my day, for I just discovered it at 11 am this morn. I've already fried up and consumed half of it. I think it's going to be a weekly staple for us!
- pool's closed, humidity's dropping, summer's over. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year so I'm livin' the dream these days!!
- 8 years and 2 days of marriage- it just keeps gettin' better and better. And the longer I'm married, the more I realize that when I married Andrew Meade, I married up. Way, way up.
- Scentsy- I'm selling it, I love it, and I love selling it! It's been a true blessing in my life so far and a very fun outlet for me.
- Brody- kicking and moving more than ever! Such a precious blessing. Brody's room colors- white furniture, pale gray walls, with accents of "kelly green" and dark gray.
- nap time. now.
- Duck Dynasty. one word- awesome. It's my and andrew's new favorite thing and we're either watching it or thinking about when next we can watch it. :o)
- hydraulic pistons- Jasper's newest favorite thing. He loves to talk about them, point at them in books, point at them on the excavators on West Broad, dream about them, talk about them, talk about them, talk about them. It's pretty precious!
- bsf- starting soon and I can't wait!!!
- corn meal much- I just discovered that Meijer's sells it for $1.39 a roll!! And all my life, I thought one could only buy it at Amish Country stores!! It's been the highlight of my day, for I just discovered it at 11 am this morn. I've already fried up and consumed half of it. I think it's going to be a weekly staple for us!
- pool's closed, humidity's dropping, summer's over. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year so I'm livin' the dream these days!!
- 8 years and 2 days of marriage- it just keeps gettin' better and better. And the longer I'm married, the more I realize that when I married Andrew Meade, I married up. Way, way up.
- Scentsy- I'm selling it, I love it, and I love selling it! It's been a true blessing in my life so far and a very fun outlet for me.
- Brody- kicking and moving more than ever! Such a precious blessing. Brody's room colors- white furniture, pale gray walls, with accents of "kelly green" and dark gray.
- nap time. now.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
yearly OSU pic :o)
3 years ago, we started the tradition of taking a family pic on the morning of the first OSU football game! We love this tradition and hope to continue it for years and years. :o)
2011
2012
(jasper's in blue?!? what?!?!)
2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
bodies
As a parent, I find myself having weird conversations either with Jasper or about Jasper. I know it comes with the territory of teaching things to a young child, but sometimes, as things are coming out of my mouth, I find myself thinking, "wow. this is weird." For example...
On Monday during lunch, Jasper picked up my bible and randomly opened it up to some verses and asked me to read them to him. Very happily, I complied. I read them and then, like always, attempted to explain to him what they mean in "every day life" to a toddler. You know, make them applicable to his precious heart. The verses were about being good stewards of our bodies, and our conversation went like this...
me- "so, basically Jasper, what God is saying is that He created our bodies and so we need to respect our bodies and do only good and healthy things for our bodies. We should not do anything that is harmful or wrong to our bodies."
J- blank stare.... then... "where'd da bodies go?"
me- "oh."
let me explain. Whenever Jasper doesn't understand a word or concept or wants further explanation of a topic or is just confused in general, his way of asking for help in understand is to ask 'where did such-and-such go'.
me- "That's a good question, buddy! Ok, let's see. Our bodies are... hmm... like, this right here (patting my arms, legs, head, knees, etc.). This is my body. Everything that's inside my skin is my body."
J- blank stare... then... "where's da skin go?"
me- "oh. That's a great question, buddy. Let's see... skin is... this stuff right here (I'm pinching my skin and holding it up to Jasper's nose). This is my skin. It holds together my body and all the stuff inside my body, like my bones and joints and my blood."
J- panic creeping into his eyes... then... "Mommy have da blood??!? Mommy have blood?!? Mommy have da blood boo-boo!! Oh no!! Mommy have da blood boo-boo!!!!!!!"
freaking out ensues.
after I convince Jasper I don't have a blood boo-boo, I say...
me- "ok, buddy... this is way too confusing. let's start over. Can I start over and try to explain 'bodies' again?"
J- blank stare... then... nods
me- "ok, 'bodies' are... you. When you see any person in the world, you are actually seeing their body. You have a body sitting right there in the chair. And I have a body and my body is sitting right here in this chair. This is my body, this is your body. Your body includes your head, legs, arms, armpits, knees, toes, ankles, and everything!! Allllllll of this stuff (patting him all over his body) is your body!! Does that make sense?"
J- "Mommy's body is in dat chair, and Baber's body is in Baber's armpit!!!"
me- "well, close buddy! Your body isn't really in your armpit, but your armpit is a part of your body."
Jas- "Baber's body is in Baber's armpit!! Dat's cwazy!!!!! AHHAHAHHH!! Baber's body is in baber's armpit and mommy's body is in dat chair right there!! That's cwazy!!!!! AHHHAHAHH!!!"
me- "Ok. Watch this!!!" I start running around in circles in the kitchen. "See how I'm running around?"
he nods
me- "That's my body running!! Whatever I do, my body does it, too!! I am my body and my body is me. It's the same thing. I am my body. Does that make sense?"
he nods... then...
J- ""Mommy's body is in dat chair (even though I was still running in circles), and Baber's body is in Baber's armpit!!! Dat's so cwazy!!!!"
he's lifting up his arms, pointing to his armpits, and talking about how crazy it is that his body is in there and he's just laughing and laughing and laughing.
At this point, I give up and say..
me- "You got it, buddy!!" thinking to myself, 'If ya can't beat em, join em.'
so lunch goes on, jas is talking about his armpit and laughing the whole time, we finish lunch, we're playing on the floor, and Jas says..
J- "where'd daddy's body go?"
me- "good question! You know where Daddy is, right?"
J- "Daddy at Bofferfrom!!!" (aka Wasserstrom aka Andrew's work)
me- "That's right! Daddy's at Wasserstrom and so is daddy's body! Daddy and his body are the same thing and he's both at Wasserstrom."
J- "no, no, no, no... Not where'd Daddy go. Where'd Daddy's body go?"
me- "sweetie, they're both at Wasserstrom. Daddy AND daddy's body are BOTH at Wasserstrom. Then when daddy is done working, he AND HIS BODY are both going to walk out to his little black car and drive home!" thinking to myself, 'I'm totally making Andrew sound like a schizo.'
J- "Dadda at Bofferfrom and Dadda's body at Bofferfrom?"
me- "that's right sweetie!"
J- "when is daddy's body coming home?"
me- "Well, Daddy, and therefore his body, are going to be home in time for dinner."
J- whispering... "dadda's body coming home time fa ninner!!!"
me- "well, sure. You got it!"
the rest of the afternoon passed. not too much mention of bodies was made. I kinda forgot all about it. The following morning, I went to get Jasper up from his bed. I went in his room...
me- "Good morning sweetheart!! I love you so much!! How are you?!?"
J- ....hunched in the corner of his bed, looking quite pathetic.... "Baber sad."
I look closely. There are tears. Huge crocodile tears forming in the corner of his eyes...
me- "oh sweetheart!! I'm so sorry!! Why are you sad?"
J- "Baber sad. Baber misses Daddy's body."
stifling every urge to laugh out loud, I scoop him up in my arms, gently soothe him, and think to myself, 'oh trust me. You're not the only one who misses Daddy's body.' :o)
Thankfully for us, both Daddy and his body rush home after work each day to spend the evenings with us. We greatly appreciate any and every minute we get to spend with both of 'em.
On Monday during lunch, Jasper picked up my bible and randomly opened it up to some verses and asked me to read them to him. Very happily, I complied. I read them and then, like always, attempted to explain to him what they mean in "every day life" to a toddler. You know, make them applicable to his precious heart. The verses were about being good stewards of our bodies, and our conversation went like this...
me- "so, basically Jasper, what God is saying is that He created our bodies and so we need to respect our bodies and do only good and healthy things for our bodies. We should not do anything that is harmful or wrong to our bodies."
J- blank stare.... then... "where'd da bodies go?"
me- "oh."
let me explain. Whenever Jasper doesn't understand a word or concept or wants further explanation of a topic or is just confused in general, his way of asking for help in understand is to ask 'where did such-and-such go'.
me- "That's a good question, buddy! Ok, let's see. Our bodies are... hmm... like, this right here (patting my arms, legs, head, knees, etc.). This is my body. Everything that's inside my skin is my body."
J- blank stare... then... "where's da skin go?"
me- "oh. That's a great question, buddy. Let's see... skin is... this stuff right here (I'm pinching my skin and holding it up to Jasper's nose). This is my skin. It holds together my body and all the stuff inside my body, like my bones and joints and my blood."
J- panic creeping into his eyes... then... "Mommy have da blood??!? Mommy have blood?!? Mommy have da blood boo-boo!! Oh no!! Mommy have da blood boo-boo!!!!!!!"
freaking out ensues.
after I convince Jasper I don't have a blood boo-boo, I say...
me- "ok, buddy... this is way too confusing. let's start over. Can I start over and try to explain 'bodies' again?"
J- blank stare... then... nods
me- "ok, 'bodies' are... you. When you see any person in the world, you are actually seeing their body. You have a body sitting right there in the chair. And I have a body and my body is sitting right here in this chair. This is my body, this is your body. Your body includes your head, legs, arms, armpits, knees, toes, ankles, and everything!! Allllllll of this stuff (patting him all over his body) is your body!! Does that make sense?"
J- "Mommy's body is in dat chair, and Baber's body is in Baber's armpit!!!"
me- "well, close buddy! Your body isn't really in your armpit, but your armpit is a part of your body."
Jas- "Baber's body is in Baber's armpit!! Dat's cwazy!!!!! AHHAHAHHH!! Baber's body is in baber's armpit and mommy's body is in dat chair right there!! That's cwazy!!!!! AHHHAHAHH!!!"
me- "Ok. Watch this!!!" I start running around in circles in the kitchen. "See how I'm running around?"
he nods
me- "That's my body running!! Whatever I do, my body does it, too!! I am my body and my body is me. It's the same thing. I am my body. Does that make sense?"
he nods... then...
J- ""Mommy's body is in dat chair (even though I was still running in circles), and Baber's body is in Baber's armpit!!! Dat's so cwazy!!!!"
he's lifting up his arms, pointing to his armpits, and talking about how crazy it is that his body is in there and he's just laughing and laughing and laughing.
At this point, I give up and say..
me- "You got it, buddy!!" thinking to myself, 'If ya can't beat em, join em.'
so lunch goes on, jas is talking about his armpit and laughing the whole time, we finish lunch, we're playing on the floor, and Jas says..
J- "where'd daddy's body go?"
me- "good question! You know where Daddy is, right?"
J- "Daddy at Bofferfrom!!!" (aka Wasserstrom aka Andrew's work)
me- "That's right! Daddy's at Wasserstrom and so is daddy's body! Daddy and his body are the same thing and he's both at Wasserstrom."
J- "no, no, no, no... Not where'd Daddy go. Where'd Daddy's body go?"
me- "sweetie, they're both at Wasserstrom. Daddy AND daddy's body are BOTH at Wasserstrom. Then when daddy is done working, he AND HIS BODY are both going to walk out to his little black car and drive home!" thinking to myself, 'I'm totally making Andrew sound like a schizo.'
J- "Dadda at Bofferfrom and Dadda's body at Bofferfrom?"
me- "that's right sweetie!"
J- "when is daddy's body coming home?"
me- "Well, Daddy, and therefore his body, are going to be home in time for dinner."
J- whispering... "dadda's body coming home time fa ninner!!!"
me- "well, sure. You got it!"
the rest of the afternoon passed. not too much mention of bodies was made. I kinda forgot all about it. The following morning, I went to get Jasper up from his bed. I went in his room...
me- "Good morning sweetheart!! I love you so much!! How are you?!?"
J- ....hunched in the corner of his bed, looking quite pathetic.... "Baber sad."
I look closely. There are tears. Huge crocodile tears forming in the corner of his eyes...
me- "oh sweetheart!! I'm so sorry!! Why are you sad?"
J- "Baber sad. Baber misses Daddy's body."
stifling every urge to laugh out loud, I scoop him up in my arms, gently soothe him, and think to myself, 'oh trust me. You're not the only one who misses Daddy's body.' :o)
Thankfully for us, both Daddy and his body rush home after work each day to spend the evenings with us. We greatly appreciate any and every minute we get to spend with both of 'em.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)