A City Life For Me

Many people have asked me about Nolan’s name, so I thought I would answer with a blog post.  Lot’s of you ask if he is named after this guy: Don’t recognize him?  That’s okay…I wouldn’t have either!  How about this? Yes…it’s the same guy – the famous baseball player, Nolan Ryan!  If you have been reading here long, you may remember this post where I said that we might name our first son Nolan after Nolan Ryan.  I was mostly kidding, though we did have “Nolan” our our list of boy’s names.  Nolan means noble or famous . So…is our son named after the baseball great?  Not exactly.  Ben loves baseball.  Ben admires Nolan Ryan as a baseball player.  But our Nolan is not a namesake.  You see names are important.  And we would only want to purposely name our child after someone if that someone was someone godly – a good example and testimony of living for the Lord.  I don’t know that much about Nolan Ryan to say one w...

One month ago we welcomed Nolan into our family.  It has been a month of adjustments (and we’re not there yet), but also of fun and joy.  Elaine is protective of her little brother.  When he cries she is by his side in an instant to offer a pacifier or share a toy (none of which quells the crying).  She is also a little jealous…if I am holding Nolan she wants to be in my lap or by my side as well. Nolan is gaining weight more rapidly than Elaine did.  He weighed over 10 pounds the last time I put him on the postage scale!  I was relieved that at three weeks of age he finally decided to accept a pacifier.  He smiles a lot in his sleep.  When he is awake he is very active – always moving his arm as if he is pitching a baseball (okay…there’s a little bit of imagination in that statement), or pushing up with his feet.  He  has been lifting his head since day 1 in the hospital, and now he is pretty steady at holding his head upright.  ...

Being a new mommy to two kiddos means…I’m always tired, and I don’t always get to sleep at night!  I have been wanting to write this post for several days, but I’m just now getting around to it. On Saturday, July 23rd, I was the recipient of a “Shower of Blessings” in the form of a baby shower for Nolan.  The ladies at Bethel Baptist Fellowship surprised me (yes – I was really surprised) and hosted the shower while my mom was in town.  Ben’s mom and sister also came down for the shower.  Ben told me we were going to the Aquarium, but we had to stop at church first to finish a project.  (It was something that I had been asking nagging him to do for a few weeks).  He got me into the auditorium by saying he left his Bible there earlier that morning during the visitation outreach.  When I walked through the door I was greeted with “surprise” by all of the ladies and girls of the church. I never suspected a thing.  The ladies got together and bo...

The lyrics from this song have been stuck in my head lately.  They have caused me to contemplate what I am doing to touch the world around me with the love of Jesus. He walked along the shores of Galilee. From clay he formed the healing balm that caused the blind to see. When stones of wrath weighed heavy in their hand, He knelt to write His mercy in the sand. Jesus came to set the captives free; showed us by the way He lived, the way we need to be. Our love is more than words could ever say - We must touch them with compassion to help them find their way. How can we reach a world we never touch? How can we show them Christ if we never show them love? Just to say we care will never be enough. How can we reach a world we never touch? Could we be so busy being saved? Trying to impress a world, that’s long since lost its way? We pride ourselves in being set apart, Yet we don’t take time to touch a broken heart. Even if we found the time to ...

(Nolan – 3 weeks old)

Nolan’s cord stump fell off last week.  In the hustle and bustle of Summer Adventure Club (our church’s VBS) we didn’t get to do the “first bath” and take pictures.  So last night, Nolan got to take a bath in the tub, and big sister got to help with the process.  I’m not sure who was more excited, Nolan or Elaine! He really doesn’t know what is about to happen… Elaine was so excited to play in the water that Ben couldn’t get her to look at the camera. …and she was even more excited when I let her “help” wash Nolan’s hair! Nolan was very calm about the whole thing. I don’t remember Elaine being calm about bath time until she was older. All done!  (He smellled soooooo wonderful after the Baby Magic bath, and then I slathered him with Baby Magic lotion.  Mmmmmm…one of my favorite smells!)

…is sharing your beloved Bunny with your new baby brother when he is crying.

Some of the ladies at church bought me this double stroller.  Elaine can sit or stand on the back jumpseat, and Nolan can ride in his car seat or sit in the regular seat when he is older.  So we tested it out today…I took my little caravan for a walk! It’s so nice to have “wheels” again!