Sheep Go To Heaven

Maya's Dedication

2012-01-26T09:20:00.001-08:00

Our family, perhaps like most families these days, is somewhat religiously eclectic. I was raised in both the Disciples (my mom's) and Catholic (my dad's) traditions. I was baptized in my mom's church, University Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) shortly before my 15th birthday (I think. It's possible I was almost 14?). And now I'm a Disciples pastor.

I think it's fair to characterize the religious aspect of Tim's upbringing by saying that Tim's parents transitioned from practicing Catholics to cultural Catholics over the course of the first years of his childhood. Both he and his sister were baptized and have godparents, but weren't "raised in the church" after that point -- attending kindergarten in a Catholic school was basically the extent of his religious education. (As babies, my three siblings and I were neither baptized nor dedicated, since my parents wanted us to choose for ourselves. They made sure we got as much religious education as possible in BOTH traditions... so we could have the information to make that choice.)

So, when we had our first kid, it was pretty clear we would not have her baptized as an infant. This was interesting because I was serving a United Church of Christ church at that time, and it is their tradition to baptize babies. So, we had what we think was their first infant dedication, a brief ceremony during a Sunday worship service where the parents dedicate the baby to God, and the parents and congregation dedicate themselves to nurturing the child in faith -- I put together the liturgy. This is a pretty common ceremony in churches that practice "believer's baptism" (that is, baptizing people who are old enough to decide for themselves). Fortunately, that congregation is very open to a variety of experiences and perspectives (even in worship!), and it didn't seem to be anything other than a joyful moment for everyone.

Anyway, it turned out that even though it didn't matter to Tim whether water got sprinkled on the little baby or not, the *godparents* part was important to him, because those relationships have been special to him throughout his life. So, we had an infant dedication with godparents -- we chose the alliterative pairing of Jessica and Jesse (Tim's only and my oldest sibling).

Okay, yes, I realize the title says *Maya's* dedication... but you know me, I had to go into the theological background at least a little bit... and it turns out this is one of those "second child" stories, too. Because Quinn's dedication was an Event. We planned it so that Tim's parents and sister (who was the godmother, after all!) could make the cross-country trip to be there, we borrowed a fancy christening gown (which made the cross-country trip with the grandparents), and nearly ALL my in-town relatives came. Which was a lot.
See?

Well, sometime during the first, California, half of our whirlwind, bi-coastal baby tour introducing Maya to her family and friends, I realized something. While still in California, we had developed the following vague travel-planning guidelines: 1) After we get home after this, please let's stay in Nicaragua for a good long while 2) Let's come back to California next time we visit the U.S. and 3) maybe Christmas in the Washington, DC area in 2012? That meant that AFTER the baby-tour visit, it would be more than a year until we were back in the DC area, in the congregation where we are members (University Christian, the location of not only my baptism, but also our wedding and my ordination). And, since it's called "infant" dedication, it might be a good idea to take advantage of visiting our home church while the kid is still an infant.

So, instead of the big family event that Quinn's dedication was, it was planned totally at the last minute. The Dress was handed off to us the day before we left Fresno, just in case (we still hadn't totally decided/ figured out if we could even make it happen). We called the church to see if we could still get it into the bulletin at the last minute. We asked the godparents at the last minute (and in one case, after the fact!). My sister said "what would you have done if I hadn't been able to make it to church?" Little did she know... we had no Plan B! We barely had a Plan A. My older brother's family already had other plans. And then, my dad had a (mild!) heart attack two days before, so it wasn't just the California grandparents who missed it -- all three of her grandparents got a copy of the church bulletin in the mail. Fortunately, my aunt and uncle and even some cousins who were in town for Thanksgiving did come and help fill in a couple "family rows" near the front.

But, I was really happy that it worked out. It felt good to present Maya to our church family in that formal way.
Gloria, the acting senior pastor, talked about children and the raising of them in faith, and asked us to make some commitments. She then took Maya and walked her down the aisle, presenting her to the congregation.
And then, when she came back up front to our assembled family and handed Maya back to me she took Quinn from Tim's arms, carried her out and presented her as well.
I loved the way that took what could have been a tough moment for Quinn (of little-sister-getting-the-spotlight) and included her in the blessing of the moment.

We decided to think outside the box a little when choosing godparents.
Tim's "honorary sister" Elisabeth is her godmother,
my younger brother Eric is the godfather, and my sister Amy (a pagan who goes to a UU church) is the goddessmother. :)
The one thing that we learned from Quinn's dedication and did *better* the second time was to get more photos of Maya in the dress.

Maya's Money Shot

2012-01-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

My most faithful readers may recall a post from Quinn's babyhood with a stunning photo that could be used to sell baby products (or at the very least, picture frames).

Well, being a second child myself, I was determined to try to capture a similarly enchanting photo of my equally gorgeous younger daughter at this age (also known as "the age when they really start to look cute").

So, here it is:

Success!

Quinn, born in winter in Washington, DC, sported a knit hat. Maya, born in Nicaragua in a tropical climate, is relaxing in the hammock.

4 for 4

2011-12-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

How many birthday parties does a four year old girl need? Well, if you're Quinn, it turns out the answer is: four.

To Quinn, and perhaps to many other children, the essential element of a birthday party is - cake! Here is the cake from her birthday party at school at the end of October, right before we left Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan birthday parties are also pretty much required to have a piñata. Quinn is whacking away at it.

Maya came to the party, too!

The second fourth birthday party was at Quinn's grandparents' house in Fresno, less than a week before her actual birthday, and just a few days before the end of our time in California. It also featured:

a cake ( a *strawberry* cake -- Quinn was a little fixated on that this year)...

piñata...

and friends!

On Quinn's actual birthday, in the middle of the week, we were staying with my Aunt Leslie in Maryland, and she was kind enough to make the birthday girl a strawberry cake. The frosting was just pink as opposed to artificial strawberry flavor. I felt it was a decided improvement, and Quinn did not know the difference.

I did not get any photos of the cake, but here is Quinn with the brown-haired, blue-eyed American Girl doll that Aunt Leslie gave her.

And, for the fourth and final party, Quinn's Aunt Holly took the strawberry theme and ran with it:

These cupcakes were just pink with a few real strawberries on top, and again, Quinn did not seem to know the difference.

She loved celebrating with her cousins.

Happy Birthday to Quinn!

Having been so thoroughly feted, we had to warn her that she would not be getting nearly as many presents for Christmas!

Food Memory

2010-12-22T20:08:00.001-08:00

We're participating in a gift exchange tomorrow with folks from the national church. We drew names a week or so ago and the price limit was the equivalent of 5 US dollars. We both had a hard time coming up with good ideas for the people we drew, until Tim had the brilliant idea of (me) making Christmas cookies to give as gifts.

So, I've been on a baking spree the past couple days, which feels just right for me. A big part of what I remember fondly about Christmases past was all the baking my mom did, most of which was boxed up for gifts to the neighbors. This meant she could bake all kinds of wonderful things, and only have the family overeat moderately. :)

I am sorry to report that in Nicaragua, as far as we can tell, there is no molasses. It seems odd, because they grow sugar cane here and LOVE white sugar (and molasses is a byproduct of making white sugar out of sugar cane). My theory is that they're making it all into rum instead (also quite popular here), but I don't know if rum is made from molasses or not. Whatever the cause, the lack of molasses puts a serious damper on the making of gingerbread cookies (often people-shaped, this year, star-shaped). I attempted a substitution of dark brown sugar and melted chocolate; it was sort of successful. The taste is about right; the structural integrity leaves something to be desired. Nothing is as sticky as molasses!

I also made chocolate chip cookie bars which "were not fancy enough for gift cookies." Or possibly, too delicious -- I am pretty sure they will be all gone by the time of the gift exchange tomorrow at lunch.

Today, I made two of my favorite "special for Christmas" goodies: fudge and sugar cookies. I remembered again this year that I don't actually know how to make fudge (since I make it at most once a year), so I searched the internet for a recipe that "looked right." I sort of thought it was supposed to be just butter, marshmallows, and chocolate chips, but once I started thinking about it, I seem to recall being disabused of that notion the last couple times I tried to make fudge... so I settled for the Campfire marshmallow "creamy fudge" recipe. For the sugar cookies, I searched for "Fannie Farmer sugar cookie" (that was my mom's go-to cookbook), and decided that this recipe sounded right.

The fudge is cooling overnight, but it seemed about right (although I may have overcooked it a little). The sugar cookies taste right, but don't behave the same way as the ones my mother made -- hers were thicker, mine spread out really thin and therefore are also wanting in the structural integrity category. I think I am going to blame the oven, which has numbers 1-5 rather than labeling the temperature in degrees.

Anywsy, when I bit into a sugar cookie, I thought, "Yes, this is what sugar cookies are supposed to taste like." Even though I have no idea about the recipes, I remember eating lots of these treats very well. It's nice to be taken back in that way. It also makes me feel a wee bit of pressure to find (and preserve from year to year) the *right* recipes. Otherwise, I'll never taste (fill-in-the-blank) the way my mother made it again! It makes me very grateful for a) my mom's three sisters and b) Fannie Farmer.

Santa, Maybe

2010-12-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

I am going to go ahead and blame Lee for tonight's post. This is also the year for us, when we have to start figuring out what to say to the kid about Santa Claus.

It's interesting, too, that here in Nicaragua there's probably more of an anti-Santa movement than in the U.S. Santa Claus doesn't actually make much sense in a Nicaraguan context, because the kids get their presents on Christmas Eve (sometimes from the Baby Jesus) -- so Santa's late to the party on many levels. The opposition comes from, on the one hand, fundamentalist Christian influences from North America, and on the other, anti-commercialism and opposition to uncritical adoption of North American culture. It seems in many ways quite similar to the anti-Halloween sentiments I've noticed, although not as intense.

But, we are from the United States, so Santa is part of our culture, albeit in varied ways. Quinn's love for the Baby Jesus is firmly in place, so I'm not too worried about Santa supplanting Jesus in the Christmas Story. Not this year, anyway.

So, I decided to tell Quinn the whole story. About a guy named Nicholas who loved the Baby Jesus and loved children, and made sure that poor children (not just children whose parents had enough money) could have a present to open on Christmas in memory of the gifts the Magi brought to Jesus. Who, years later, when people remembered his life, got upgraded to "Saint Nicholas." And who inspired people to make sure that poor children would have presents on Christmas, so they left them labeled "from Saint Nicholas." I glossed over the languages the name went through, and said that it was the children, who sometimes make up their own way to say things, who changed it to "Santa Claus."

She liked the story, and asks to hear it again pretty regularly. Her first question was whether or not we have enough money to buy her presents. She also made up her own story, where Santa Claus "picks the flowers and leaves." But I think she has picked up on a lot of Santa stuff from school, movies, etc., because she said very decidedly that she wanted to get a present from Santa. So, we made a deal. If she can read "Santa Claus" by Christmas, she can get one present that is from Santa Claus. (I think she may be reading "Claus" for everything that starts with C for a while...) We're also watching a lot of Christmas movies to get in the mood (and because she's on vacation from school), so further Santa inculcation is inevitable.

It's also interesting timing because her imagination has just recently taken off. She makes up stories (and words, too, which can be confusing) all the time now. So she is in just the right place to be compelled by the magic of a new imaginary scheme, and already has the capacity to play along. And with her, we get to "play" a little more as well. We are so lucky.

Joseph the Stepdad

2010-12-17T19:04:00.006-08:00

In the Christmas story, Joseph plays an interesting role. Certainly not an easy one (although, arguably, none of the roles are "easy"). Some discussion on facebook got me thinking about one of my favorite songs by Wyclef Jean, Baby Daddy. It's from his album The Preacher's Son, also a favorite.

The refrain:
I'm not that baby's daddy
treat him like he's my own
but, sometimes I sit and wonder
how can I father another man's son?
when the argument breaks in the pad
Shorty wanna scream I ain't his real dad now
I may not be your father, but I'm the closest thing to him

***

"Didn't you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49, CEB) says twelve year old Jesus to his frantically worried parents who have been searching for him for three days.

I can imagine that Joseph would have known something the tension of the step-parent relationship. We celebrate in Advent that Joseph said "I'm going to treat him like he's mine."

All I Want for Christmas...

2010-12-13T19:33:00.001-08:00

So, it's been interesting to me, gearing up for Christmas while living here in Nicaragua. I came to Nicaragua thinking of myself as a relatively non-materialistic person. And I still think that's generally true about me. I certainly tired pretty quickly of the required purchasing of things that goes along with moving to a new country and bringing only the possessions that fit in suitcases.

I expected my reaction to living in a country where extreme poverty is common to be developing even stronger feelings about living simply. And this has been true, sort of. For example, the house that was found for us to live in did not exactly meet every single requirement I had listed ahead of time. The budget could certainly bear more expensive housing, and we had the option of looking for another house. But one of the things that convicted me was driving past the houses that other people live in that are made out of garbage bags. It sort of took the joy out of house hunting, for me. (There were other factors, certainly, getting to know and like our neighbors here being chief among them.)

On the other hand, I've also gotten more materialistic, or focused on stuff in some ways. I find myself fantasizing about material things that will be available to me when we go back to the United States for our Christmas visit. So, here is my (mildly schizoid) wish list:

1) It would really make me happy if anyone felt moved to give to my favorite good causes. Partly because I have less extra cash to give out at the moment myself. I have a lot of favorites, but at this moment the top three are:

a) Global Ministries* - I guess the fact that I buy into their mission is obvious by the fact that I'm serving as a missionary on their behalf. I am just consistently impressed by their vision, and the number and quality of relationships they maintain with churches and organizations that are working "on the ground" in some of the neediest places in this world. One of the things that I see so clearly here and have heard about other partner organizations and churches in other parts of the world is that so much can be accomplished with relatively little money.

b) I will always have a soft spot in my heart (and, insofar as it's possible, my budget ;) ) for Christ House, where I served for a year as a full-time volunteer. They do amazing, holistic, compassionate work with sick, homeless people -- and they have been so successful in helping people move out of homelessness and into supportive community that they're starting a second building for their "graduates." They have also formed a lot of young people like myself over the years through their volunteer program, providing a safe space to serve and get to know people on the fringes of society and learn a LOT in the process.

c) Californians for Justice is an organization that Tim and I once volunteered for, doing impressive work in building power in communities of color in California. They have come to focus on public education, an issue I've been captivated by since I was coming up through that system myself. And they're doing it by organizing and empowering youth! (At least one of whom is a member of a church I served as sabbatical interim pastor for.)

I'm more than happy to answer questions about any of these organizations. :)

2) Okay, so that's the non-materialistic side speaking up there. :) The materialistic side has created a wishlist on amazon.com with desired books and music. Actually, I've had even more fun looking up books for Quinn. One of the things I miss the most about the U.S. is our library and the awesome children's book selection.

3) I want different clothes than the ones I brought. It was hard to know what to bring, never having been in this climate or social context before. I never wear my awesome summer dresses. I wear skirts most days. And short-sleeved cotton blouses are pretty much always appropriate.** I only wear T-shirts or shorts when I don't think I'll see anyone from church (and sometimes they stop by unexpectedly!) And I actually wear jeans way more often than I thought I would! (But the jeans issue will be resolved by digging through our items in storage while in Fresno.)

4) Umm, a hot shower? This is material but not shippable. :) I will be enjoying them greatly (and hopefully, daily) when we visit California.

5) A Club (you know, the anti-theft device) for our SUV. Not sure if this is practical to bring with us, because they are heavy, but I also don't know where to find it here.

6) Chocolate is always welcome and appreciated. They grow it here, but I think almost exclusively for export. We pay way too much money for Hershey's chocolate in the supermarket (although now we have a Costco membership, I think we may soon have a LOT Ghirardelli chocolate chips ;) ).

There you have it. It hasn't taken much "deprivation" (because, seriously, our lifestyle is not even that different, just a few more minor inconveniences) to arouse some materialistic longing in my spirit... but hopefully the balance remains (or even swings further to the solidarity/ appreciating how much we have side of things).

*If you're a member of a United Church of Christ or Disciples of Christ congregation that supports Our Church's Wider Mission (UCC) or Disciples Mission Fund (DoC), your church is already supporting Global Ministries in that way. So thank you! But over-and-above giving is also great. :)

**size 16 or XL, if you're particularly curious :)

Christmas Traditions: Quinn's Take

2010-12-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Every culture and every family that celebrates Christmas has its own particular traditions. In starting our own family by getting married, and especially now that we're raising a kid together, Tim and I have thought and talked quite a bit about the differences in the way each of our families celebrate Christmas, and the things that we might want to do in a new way.

But those differences sort of pale in comparison to the differences between U.S. and Nicaraguan Christmas traditions. We learned from a friend while on our most recent trip that as a kid, he always thought that the Baby Jesus brought the Christmas presents that his parents hid under his bed. Christmas trees are not that common here (okay, well, there certainly aren't a lot of pine trees), and, it being so hot, there aren't fireplaces, or chimneys, or stockings hung on said fireplace (much less a fat man magically squeezing down said chimney).

All this to get to my main point, which is that I'm pretty enamored of the synthesis that we heard from the back seat today. Quinn said "I'm going to sing a song." And then proceeded to sing something along the lines of "The stars gave presents to Santa Claus, so he could give them to the kids. And then the baby came, and the angels came to see the baby."

Just Do It

2010-11-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

re-posted from our joint blog, On A Journey

I think I am resolving to try to blog every day this Advent. The idea came to me when I couldn't sleep last night, and in the clear light of day, it still seems like it could be a good idea. Let me see if I can try to explain why I feel moved to do this.

1) We are having an amazing experience here in Nicaragua. But the way I see our role as missionaries, our experience becomes much more worthwhile when we are able to share it with all our friends and family back home, especially those in our "families of faith," the Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ. People in the pews of those denominations have been supporting the work of Global Ministries in building relationships with this church and other partners around the world for a very long time. Just as important as getting to know the people of La Mision Cristiana (Christian Mission Church of Nicaragua) is allowing church members in the United States to get to know them, too. By this logic, the more we blog, the better, so any reason is a good one. :)

2) I've been inspired my two really impressive women bloggers, both mothers. One is my cousin (okay, technically cousin-in-law, but I claim her), who despite having not only one child the same age as mine, and at least as rowdy, but also a baby whose age is still counted in months, and having spent a lot of time caring for both these children all by herself when her husband is on deployment, still manages to blog every day. The other person is someone I've never met, but I found her blog, Momastery, through a link posted by a friend on Facebook, and found her writing and the comments very inspiring. Both of these blogs have seemed to me like "places" where a real sense of community exists online.

3) It doesn't feel like Advent to me! Yes, there are Christmas lights and decorations up everywhere here in Managua, but the temperature is still liable to hit 90 on any given day, most schools just let out for summer vacation, and although our partner church here has many wonderful characteristics, they do not celebrate the liturgical calendar to which I am accustomed, and definitely don't light the candles on the Advent wreath each week to count up to Christmas. So, I want to try in my blogging to pay attention to the lectionary texts (the Bible passages that many churches read in worship each week) to get myself ready for Christmas, spiritually, together with many churches and Christians all over the world and through history.

4) I'm finding myself really pulled into the materialistic aspect of Christmas preparations, i.e. presents! -- that is, making lists of things I want and think Quinn might want and doing online shopping... so I'm seeking a little balance.

5) I love the lectionary, and I miss preaching. So, I want to write more. Don't worry, folks -- it won't be all Bible, all the time, but I would like to devote some attention to the Bible texts that lead us into Christmas.

6) Tim said last night, as we lit the first candle on the Advent wreath "I know it's the first Sunday of Advent, but I don't really know what that means." And I realize that I have more to learn about it as well. So, I would like to address that a bit as well.

I'm also posting this on my Nicaragua blog, and I may not post here most days, until I run out of ideas that are directly connected to our life and ministry here in Nicaragua. My ideas I wrote down last night while not sleeping include: Quinn's theological inquiries (aka "doozies"), a slightly overdue report on our trip to a church-owned farm near Waslala, the history of Advent, stuff I want for Christmas and the Nicaraguan cultural celebrations that lead up to La Purisima on December 8th. So, stay tuned!

I wrote something!

2010-08-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

(and it got published :) )

Find my essay on leaving the country and using technology here:
http://www.youngclergywomen.org/the_young_clergy_women_pr/2010/08/keeping-in-touch.html#continue

Trees Fall in Brookland

2010-07-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

So, we had a really intense, 20 minute thunderstorm yesterday afternoon. We were enjoying watching it from the porch until the lightweight porch rug was blown so that it totally covered Quinn! Then we enjoyed watching it through the windows. Power lines were swaying and small tree branches were flying on our street, and Quinn's toy plastic bucket got blown and/ or washed around the corner and stuck in the storm drain.

It was very dramatic. When we went for a walk to the Basilica (Tim took some lovely pictures) we saw that many trees had suffered serious damage:

And one quite large tree was knocked down entirely.

The traffic lights were also out at Michigan and Monroe:

For the drivers along Michigan Ave, things were pretty exciting, with a fallen branch blocking 2 of the 4 lanes right before the intersection with no stoplights. It was fortunate that not too many people seemed to be out driving on Sunday afternoon.

Learning Spanish on the Internet

2010-04-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

So, I'm working on learning Spanish, and there are a few things that I have found really helpful.

I'm using Rosetta Stone software, and it's really great when I put in the time to do it, but at times hard to motivate myself to do it (since, you know, once I get on the computer, there's all of the Internet to read before I buckle down to work...). I just finished a continuing ed class and am hoping to start another one soon.

The instructor from the class I just finished gave us lots of helpful web resources. I really like BBC Mundo, which has short articles -- their photos of the day are particularly helpful, since the captions aren't too long and the photos give lots of context. I also like their "News in 60 seconds" but have to listen to it a couple times before I get the bulk of it. He also suggested spaleon.com, tomisimo.org, and wordreference.com (which has other languages, too!). I've also heard that Destinos is really cool.

And finally, the inspiration for this blog post is www.spanish-word-a-day.com, a neat service that will send a new Spanish vocabulary word to your email inbox, complete with pronunciation guide and example sentence. And now they've added a weekly review sheet -- it's a nice way to slowly add vocab, and it's been really encouraging to go from never having any idea what the words (or most of the words in the example sentences) were to actually knowing some of them already! :)

Happy Passport Day!

2010-03-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

So, it turns out that today is National Passport Day. Not entirely sure what this means, but it made our lives a lot easier when it came to applying for Quinn's passport.

Children have to apply in person with their parents, and most passport acceptance facilities (most of which are post offices) have limited hours, Monday through Friday. I have concocted and abandoned more than one scheme for Quinn and me to meet Tim at a downtown post office at a convenient time so we can apply in person. The Passport Agency a block from Tim's work is usually appointment-only, reserved for people who are leaving the country in the next two weeks.

A few DC post offices do have Saturday hours, but it turned out that by the time we thought of it today, most of them were closed already. But, the D.C. Passport Agency downtown was open today for National Passport Day from 10-3, and we had over an hour left in that window. So, we hopped in the car and headed downtown, and had one of the most pleasant bureaucratic-processing experiences we've had.

We were greeted by a helpful person as soon as we walked in, we were called almost immediately after getting a number, they photocopied our IDs for us (the one thing we hadn't gotten to), Quinn got not one but TWO balloons, at least five people sporting Passport stickers wished us a cheerful goodbye on the way out, and we were in and out in about twenty minutes. It was awesome. Happy Passport Day, everybody!

Dorie and Dawn!

2010-01-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

Quinn and I were driving home one day last week, singing songs in the car, mostly with a Christmas theme. "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" are two of Quinn's favorites, primarily because they are featured on the episode of Caillou where he goes caroling with his family. She usually refers to the latter as "Merry Merry Merry Christmas."

We were waiting at a stop light when Quinn insisted that we sing "Dorie and Dawn"! She repeated this request loudly, and when I failed to respond quickly enough, screeched at me. Apparently, this was an effective method of communication, because all of a sudden I realized she was asking for "We Three Kings of Orient Are." Which I then sang, making Quinn happy again.

A day or two later, she was playing with the three Kings from her nativity set, and she informed me that "this one is Orie" and "this one is Dawn." Since our friend Dawn is married to Wesley, it turned out that he was the third King.

2 months to go until Quinn is TWO!

2009-09-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

So, I noticed that it was the 17th, and Quinn is exactly 22 months old, starting the 2 month countdown until her 2nd birthday... so I thought it might be an occasion to re-start my blogging efforts and post some photos from the archives as well.

It's hard to believe, on the one hand, that it has been almost two years since she was born
(I look a little shocked, right? I think it's safe to say that parenthood is a fairly shocking thing.)

I did eventually get used to the idea, once I had a shower and some sleep -- here I am getting ready to take her home.
Our little snugglebug...And then home with Daddy!

One of the most shocking things has been how little we've slept in the past 22 months (it got a lot better about halfway through, because we moved to a place with a little bedroom just for her when she was about 10 months), but what is really amazing is how much she has grown and changed, from that sweet little lump of baby to a constantly moving toddler!

Here she is just a year ago (September '08), at 10 months.
(Yes, she was born with thicker hair than she had at 10 months... it all fell out and took quite a long time to grow back in!)

And here she is now!

A totally different creature... and yet always herself!

My plan is to post photos from the past two years over these two months. Later this week... December '07 and January '08. Stay tuned...

Hubris

2009-03-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Funny story. Tim, Amy and I all got really sick to our stomachs two weeks ago. We were miserable, but so very glad that Quinn did not get whatever horrible illness (food poisoning? stomach flu? the world my never know...) we all shared. Amy and I recovered quickly, but Tim has not been feeling quite right ever since. Poor guy. Also, now he has a cold.

But, anyway, I was reflecting on these events last night, and I thought to myself, "Wow, Quinn has never really thrown up. She would spit up like any normal baby with a new digestive system, but she's never really vomited." Wouldn't you know, this very morning, she was playing in bed while I tried to get just a little more rest before facing the day... and she threw up like a big girl on Mama and Daddy's bed. She seemed unfazed, and possibly a little happier. But then she wanted to drink juice and eat a cracker about 20 minutes later, and that came back up, too -- on the floor of her room. She's having a fussy day, but I think after a while she was just hungry. She ate a good amount of lunch and is now sleeping soundly, so I'm hoping the worst is over.

Shout-Out

2009-02-28T17:51:00.001-08:00

You know who you are. :) We'll see how long it takes you to notice.

This is near the corner of 14th and R Streets in Northwest DC.

Out and About

2009-02-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

On President's Day, we took advantage of that rare thing: a day when neither Tim nor I has to work and went downtown to find our spot on the Honor Wall at the National Museum of the American Indian.

See, we found it!My mother made a donation in our names in 2005 as our birthday & Christmas presents for 2005/06. In June 2007, she got a letter saying the section of the Honor Wall we were on had been completed and detailing the location of our names. She never saw that letter, and it has been in my desk drawer ever since (pretty impressive considering we've moved twice!). So, it felt good to finally get there. We had a very delicious lunch at the Mitsitam Cafe.

After the NMAI, we went to the Botanical Garden to remind ourselves of the jungle and dream of warmer weather to come. Quinn was enjoying the flowers (and the warmth).

And I was excited to see this flower:

which we saw quite a lot of in the jungle in Ecuador, but didn't know its name (of course, I can't remember it now, either!).

5 Months Later...

2009-02-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

I have to say, my frequency of posting is pretty pathetic at this point. Quinn is now 15 months old! She had her 15 month checkup at the doctor yesterday, and is 50th percentile for weight, and possibly 25th percentile for length, but she was really mad and squirmy when getting measured, so it's not clear that it was at all accurate (for example, the head size reading was *smaller* than at her 12 month checkup). Anyway, here's a picture of our girl on Valentine's Day, in her Valentine's dress, doing one of her favorite things -- carrying Mama's purse. She often says "Bye-bye" and pretends she is going to walk out the front door when she does this.

She's also getting really good at walking.

And she loves to play... this picture of her riding on the dump truck was just too cute. It seems like she's learning new words at the rate of one a day... but that's probably a slight exaggeration. She does say "Please" and "thank you" when prompted, and was trying out "sorry" yesterday (but I'm pretty sure she hasn't grasped the concept). It is amazing how fast she is learning and growing. Next thing you know, she'll be learning to drive!

The Big 10 (Months)

2008-09-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, Quinn is ten months old, and I haven't really blogged about her since she was 5 months old -- that's a whole Quinn half-life. It's hard to believe it's been that long... the second 5 months definitely flew by even faster than the first five.

She is a playful girl who has six teeth now. She gets around and gets into everything -- she has been crawling for two and a half months, and pulls herself up and "cruises" (that's walking while holding onto furniture, etc) at every opportunity... we are pretty sure she'll be walking before her first birthday (and are appropriately terrified!).

Sadly, my camera has broken, which has seriously derailed my "picture a day" project, but here are some nice shots from the past month.

Quinn made her debut at the Miller picnic, a reunion of my maternal grandmother's side of the family -- and she was the youngest clan member, and so got to be in the traditional "youngest and oldest" photograph.

Here she is taking in the bathtub-warm waters off the Mississippi Gulf Coast with her Daddy.

She's very much in the "monkey see, monkey do" phase. And, of course, takes dental hygiene very seriously.

And here she is frolicking in the living room of our new place! (Yes, we moved again.) We are all really enjoying living a home that includes a little room just for Quinn to sleep in -- we're getting a lot more sleep now.

We continue to be totally impressed with her. Happy ten-month birthday, Quinn! We love you!

Sometimes you just have to giggle

2008-06-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening, I found myself leading worship and reading a prayer asking God to "make us children of quietness" at the same time that Quinn was fussing in the back of the church. I managed to hold in the giggle and avoid ruining the contemplative tone we were going for in the worship service.

One other time, I was not so lucky. At another church, on a Sunday morning when I was pretty tired from a lot of extra stuff that week, they had the Christmas pageant in the morning worship mid-December. One little girl was the angel Gabriel, and she was sitting up in the chancel in one of these big wooden chairs built in to the wall, covered in huge, removable cushions. I guess she was wiggling a bit, because both she and the cushion slid onto the floor!

I'm glad another grown-up was sitting next to her and made sure she was okay. I was unable to keep myself from laughing -- I'm pretty sure there was a hymn being sung to cover it, and I was doing my best to suppress it -- but I was overcome with the giggles. I think I was moved to tears.

The Big 5 (Months)

2008-04-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

Quinn is five months old today!

She is getting to be such a big girl. She sits in her highchair and eats rice cereal,

can hold her bottle by herself,

and is getting closer every day to being able to sit up on her own.

She also got just her thumb in her mouth for the first time today.

We actually had a bit of an adventure today. Amy, Quinn, and I went to the cafe down the street this morning, Amy and I each assuming that the other one had keys with them. We got back to our building, and while our kind neighbor did let us into the building, we found that we had left the door to our apartment locked as well! Fortunately, Amy had her purse, which contained her cell phone and SmartTrip card for the Metro, as well as her wallet. So, we called Tim, who sent emails to the people who were expecting to see me at noon (this was around 11:30). We then took the Metro down to Tim's office, where we got his keys. We ended up taking the bus home, which gave us an interesting tour of some different parts of the city, including taking us through the Chinatown gate.

Quinn, who was in the BabyBjorn (front carrier) this whole time, fell asleep as we were walking to the bus stop and woke up shortly before we got off the bus -- an interlude much shorter and later than her usual morning nap, so I'm anticipating an early bedtime tonight.

Quinea Pig

2008-04-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Quinn participated in her first experiment yesterday. (As a subject; all babies are mini-scientists who are running experiments all the time as they figure out how the world works.)

She was in a study at the linguistics lab, one of three labs at the University of Maryland that do infant studies. I held her on my lap and had a visor over my eyes so I couldn't see the large screen TV she was looking at. Apparently, the screen was split in two, with different versions of a woman's face on either side. One was saying "ooo," the other was saying "eee." For the first half of the time, the woman's voice saying "ee. ee. ee." was played. For the second half, it said "oo. oo. oo."

A video camera recorded where Quinn was looking when this was going on. Apparently, she (like other babies who are 4 months old) looks more at the face whose mouth matches the sound. Anyway, it was pretty fun, and I always like doing my part to advance the cause of science.

Firsts for Quinn

2008-04-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

Quinn has had some exciting firsts in the past week or so. She had her first time in the pool last Sunday.

The previous day, she got her foot in her mouth all by herself for the first time! Tim caught this new skill on camera on Wednesday:

And just yesterday, we fed her her first "solid food." Solid food, for babies, means a lot of mush before they graduate to anything more substantial. But, she found rice cereal pretty agreeable. We felt that she was ready because she's been watching us intently while we eat, and is now grabbing for adult food at the table.

We've been feeling like she' has gotten really big: at the doctor for her 4-month checkup, she was 16 1/2 lbs and 24 1/4 inches long. But sitting her in the highchair sure made her look little again!

Do I Look Like My Mama?

2008-03-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well, here are some shots of her vaguely posed like my baby picture.

Here's Quinn:

Here's Baby me:

And here's a little better smile from Quinn:

I have trouble catching the full magic of her smiles on camera. Perhaps that's because the squealing isn't picked up along with it... well, seriously, it's probably because she gives her biggest smiles to people face-to-face. And I haven't yet figured out how to implant a camera in my face. :)

What do you think?

Do I Look Like My Daddy?

2008-03-04T08:25:00.000-08:00

So, I had a silly idea that we should pose Quinn like baby pictures of her parents to help decide who she looks more like. The challenge is that I really don't know how old we each were when we got our first portraits taken. I suspect we were older (around 6 months) than she is now (3 1/2 months). But, we got the one to compare with Tim.

Here's Quinn:

And here's baby Tim:

Or does this one look more like him?

What do you think?

Stay tuned for "Do I Look Like My Mama?"...

This Week

2008-02-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

Quinn has had a pretty good week. She's sleeping in 2 4-hour chunks at night with some regularity (although, the night before last, she did think that bedtime was 2 am).

We went for a walk in the neighborhood yesterday.

She has no end of adorable clothing to wear, thanks to her many fans.

And, she's getting better and better at playing with things.

Not to mention other babies!

Make no mistake -- her hands are still the most interesting things around!

Rocking and Rolling

2008-02-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started my Lenten blog, I haven't found time to post on this one. Since I get Sundays off from my Lenten discipline, here are some glimpses of Quinn's life lately.

Amy (her aunt) came back home from her a vacation in Mexico, which included celebrating Carnaval in Cozumel. Amy's taking her massage therapy licensing exam tomorrow. Go Amy!

Quinn also got to spend some quality time with her cousin Grace, who insisted, "I want to hold Baby Quinn!" Those of you who are lucky enough to have met Grace will notice that she has had her first haircut. She donated the hair to Locks of Love.

She also got to hang out with one of her baby friends, Harper (the 6-month old daughter of one of my favorite people). Quinn was actually kind of interested in looking at Harper for the first time this week.

In other baby news, Quinn finally seems to have mastered rolling from her back to her side -- she repeated it enough times that I actually caught it on camera...

...and, Quinn has inherited a "big girl swing" -- she sits up in it, unlike the other one, where she is in more of a lying-down position. She played happily in this thing (with her polyhedron toy) for about an hour today!

She's been more interested in sitting up in general -- she still needs to be propped up, but she does these cute little baby curls if you try to hold her in a reclining position.

So, to sum up: she's still cute!

Sadness

2008-02-07T07:28:00.001-08:00

Lest you think that Quinn's life is all happiness and smiles, I wanted to share some photographic evidence to the contrary:

Actually, I think this face she makes is adorable (although sad). Believe it or not, I only managed to capture the less extreme version; she somehow manages to get the corners of her mouth all the way down to her chin.

Here are some things that have made Quinn sad recently: getting medicine on her neck (what neck, you say? well, that's the problem), which is supposed to happen twice a day, and Mama cutting the tip of her finger with the nail clippers. That was VERY sad.

Buy Nothing New Year

2008-02-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

So, Tim and I thought that, between the two of us, we could probably keep one New Year's resolution this year, and so we decided to buy nothing new.

Inspired by a column in Sojourners by someone who had committed to a Buy Nothing New year in the same year they had their first child, I figured we could do it, too. The way I see it, there is already WAY too much stuff around, and we can easily get by with re-used things.

Climate change seems more real and scary every day, and this is one small way to reduce our impact, as well as a way (for me) to begin to wrestle with the massive disconnect between the haves and the have-nots, both in the U.S. and globally.

At the very least, it should make us consider carefully what we really need.

I think that all the "transgressions" (or "exceptions," depending on your point of view) so far have been mine. So far, it's been all baby things: a few (bisphenol-A free) bottles, which were probably necessary, and some cute organic cotton baby clothing, which definitely was not.

We're currently in a competition to see who can post our reflections first. I think I won. But Tim's is probably way smarter-sounding.

Money Shot

2008-01-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

With a nice camera, great sunlight, and an adorable subject, taking photos is really fun! And sometimes they turn out incredibly well, like this one.

Quinn had a doctor's appointment today, and she weighs 13 lbs, 14 oz (90th-95th percentile), is 23 1/2 inches long (75th-90th percentile), and has a head diameter of 43 cm (off the charts!). She was very sad about her shots -- she cried loudly, but didn't make a special new, "ouch that hurts" noise, like I thought she might. It was just loud crying with extra flailing of limbs. Fortunately, the crying was over pretty quickly, and she fell asleep pretty much as soon as we got her into the car seat.

...And the sleeping continues!

2008-01-22T06:03:00.000-08:00

This is what a happy, well-rested baby looks like. Quinn continues to sleep like a champion. She has slept 5 1/2 hours or more 6 nights in the past week -- and 4 of those were 6 1/2 hours or more. We are feeling much better rested and loving it! Time will tell if this will last, but I'm just appreciating it.

In other news, Quinn (yeah, right, you didn't think it would be about anyone else, did you?) is discovering her hands. Several times in the past couple days, I have caught Quinn looking at her right hand -- sometimes moving it around a bit, but a lot of times just staring very calmly and intently. She will grab things that are placed in her hand, and try to reach for things. She still doesn't have total control of her arms -- she gave her self a good whack in the face with a rattle two days ago. It was very sad, and shocking to her -- she had her mad, crying face with the mouth wide open, but no sound came out for the first 20 seconds or so. We've decided to stick to softer toys for now.

I should also note that in this photo, she is smiling AT the camera -- I was holding it out, and she smiled when the little red light came on, looking at it rather than my face.

She just keeps getting more interesting!

A Champion Sleeper

2008-01-15T21:16:00.001-08:00

Quinn slept almost 6 1/2 hours last night!

And, she went 7 1/2 hours between feedings. She's been a bit irregular with her sleeping schedule, but this gives us great hope (not to mention an unusually well-rested feeling).

She thoroughly enjoyed our trip to California, and showed further sleeping prowess by sleeping pretty much the whole way on the plane trip there and back -- and by adjusting to East Coast time instantly. We had feared she might literally be up all night when we got back, but she fell asleep more easily than we did.

Christmas Outfit

2007-12-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

I had Quinn try on her Christmas outfit the other day. At first, she was suspicious.

Then, she got MAD!

She settled down and felt calmer once she got into normal clothes. I think maybe she is like her Daddy (okay, her Mama, too, a little bit) and does not like dressing up.

I'm not sure you can tell from these photos, but our girl is balding. Sadly, I think she will follow in my footsteps (and not her Daddy's), and have that respectable head of hair she was born with fall out and new hair (eventually) grow in. Tim's hair stayed, apparently. Tim reminds me, however, that in the long run, she should have plenty of hair, since mine grows fast, and his is voluminous.

Life as a Baby...

2007-12-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

The highlights of life with baby are simple.

Quinn had her first bottle recently -- once breastfeeding was "well-established," I started expressing milk so that other people could feed her occasionally (someday, perhaps I'll even be able to sleep through a middle of the night feeding!). Here she is getting her first bottle:

Yum, Yum!

Yesterday, she had her second doctor's appointment (the 4-week checkup, a few days early because we're traveling for Christmas). Our big little girl weighed in at 10 lbs 2 oz and is now 21 1/2 inches long! She's gained 2 pounds and grown 2 inches since she was born.

And, she's practicing for her life of fame by averting her face from the paparazzi already!

She's also been getting in some quality father-daughter bonding time. She looks a little startled -- Tim is probably making a funny face at her.

A Yellow Walk

2007-12-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

Last week, we took Quinn out for her first walk around the neighborhood.

She stayed warm with her yellow blanket...

... and we encountered many other yellow things as well.

Whoa, Baby!!

2007-11-21T07:04:00.001-08:00

We are now living in a Quinn-centric universe.

Quinn Irene was born at 5:54 am on November 17, 2007. She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 19 inches long. She is a beautiful, healthy baby girl and we are so delighted by her -- even in the middle of the night!

See lots of photos at the blog of her doting daddy.

It feels like ever since I gave birth, I've been living in an alternate reality. This could have something to do with the pathetically small number of hours of sleep I've logged in the past 3 weeks, but it's also the mental and emotional adjustment of taking care of this entirely new other person, and getting to know her, and Being a Mother.

It's amazing to me how tiny she is, and how every part of her little body works. I get stuck sometimes staring at her pinky nail, usually when I'm trying to file down her nails, which are long and sharp and grow fast. I'm fascinated by the weird little noises she makes, often in her sleep: grunts and squeaks and snorts, and every once in a while (okay, every time she eats!), a contented little hum.

It's also amazing to me that such a tiny person can dictate so much of our lives, and demand so much of our attention. Especially since the focus of our time and energy seems mainly to be around Digestive Events: Eating, Burping, Peeing, Pooping, and the dread Spitting Up.

So, she has taken over our life, and we love her! Isn't she cute?

Baby!

2007-05-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

So, Tim and I are having a baby -- the due date is November 10th. See his post here.

Opting Out

2005-11-29T21:10:00.000-08:00

One of the best dialogues in cinematic history is from the movie Say Anything. Lloyd Dobbler (played by John Cusack) is over for dinner at the home of his valedictorian girlfriend and her ambitious, overprotective single dad asks what he intends to do as a career.

The father of course asks the young man what he intends to do with his life, what career he wants to pursue. His response is, “I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that.”

“Well then,” asks the father sternly, “just what do you intend to do?”

His earnest response is “Kickboxing, sir. It’s the sport of the future.”

I used this in my sermon on Sunday as an example of someone attempting to opt out of the economy -- his list is fairly exhaustive, and includes most possible careers (although, unless you think we're selling something ;) , doesn't include pastors). But even if young Lloyd did manage to avoid buying, selling, and processing as a career, he would still be using all kinds of things that were bought, sold, and/or processed...

My point here being that opting out seems like it's almost always not an option. We are inextricably entangled in too many systems and institutions (economic, political, social) that despite their deep flaws, we can't escape. And most attempts at "opting out," whether in personal interaction or on a larger scale (e.g. not voting b/c you don't like the government) turn out to be acceptance and implicit affirmation of the status quo.

I have a blog now too.

2005-10-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Caving into peer pressure (and desiring to comment on certain other blogs), I now have a blog, too. We'll see what gems come forth... stay tuned.