What Tennyson (and his parents) Have Been Up To Lately

The short answer is: a lot. Last Saturday (the 23rd) Tom's nephew moved in to his new dorm at EMU (my alma mater), so Tom's sister, brother-in-law, and their 3 children were all here. We are very excited to have a family member on his side close to us! It was so surreal to be back in the same dorm, on the same floor where I lived for 2 years! I was actually getting a little emotional, remembering all the good times I had in college and all the life-long friendships I made. Tennyson even put on a little concert for us on the piano in the main lounge. Isn't that adorable? He really looks like he knows what he doing!

All that strolling around campus made him sleepy

Then that evening we went to help a good friend of mine celebrate her 30th birthday! We enjoyed some great food and conversation with friends. What a fun time!

Tennyson has been.....Tennyson, which means busy. Here are some random photos of him from the past 10 days or so, doing everything from eating the farm animals out of his book to strolling outside the front door in just a diaper.

Though he still takes my dishtowels, Tennyson has moved on to include carrying my cookie sheets around the kitchen.....and sometimes hiding them under the rug.

I love this photo. Tennyson is watching his Daddy getting ready to mow.

He was like a puppy in the window with his face pressed against the glass.

Playing with kitchen utensils. I think he's playing the strainer. Makes lovely music.

The aforementioned - eating the farm animals out of his book

Enjoying some snacks

I just love his genuinely happy expression as he plays!
Tom kept remarking how much he looks like a little boy in this picture
and not so much the baby.
Digging in Mommy's cabinet
"Oh, hi Mommy! I wasn't doing anything."
Before
After
Lucky Break: the wind blew the door open
And he escapes!

If Only This Were True

I couldn't help myself! I HAD to share these! Enjoy, ladies!! (If you can't read the caption just click on the photo to enlarge it.)

The "Great" Outdoors

I normally don't consider the outdoors all that great. I am a city girl. Born and raised. I have never been camping. (This refers to "real" camping, not RVing.) Never. Nor do I ever intend to, despite my husband's "threats" to take me someday. Why would anyone voluntarily sleep in a tent and go without running water!? Nothing about that says "fun" to me.

We did, however, go to Skyline Drive the other weekend for some non-camping, outdoor sightseeing, and I was able to capture some lovely naturey things with the camera. Besides the good photo ops there was another bonus: blackberry milkshakes. If you haven't had one, you must.

The butterflies were out in full force!

This was too lovely not to photograph

These horses were possibly waiting for their milkshakes, too, at Big Meadows.

M.I.A.

Yes, I have been kind of MIA lately with the whole blogging thing. Since I have a houseful of 1-year olds 5 days a week I have NO time to do anything until after the kids are picked up. Then it's dinner time, cleanup from dinner, bath time and bed time for Tennyson. Then after he's in bed I rush around like a crazy person trying to get my house put back in order, from picking up toys and Cheerios off the floor to folding 2 days worth of laundry on our bed before I can even get in the bed to sleep. *sigh* I feel like most days I am just trying to keep my head above water.

I'm sure I'm the only Mommy in the world that feels like this, right?

Stressed.....but Blessed

This past week marked the official start of school for Tom and therefore the return of the full-time kids I care for. The first few days were really, really rough and the kids weren't the only ones crying. But the boys (both are almost 1-year old) got better by the end of the week. I just kept reminding myself that it would take them a little while to get used to a new routine, sleeping in a new place, and being without their mothers. And that got me thinking about why I was doing all this in the first place......for Tennyson.

Yes, I lost my job involuntarily and unexpectedly, but I often forget how God totally turned it around. Now I will be the first person to admit that though I am an organizational freak I sometimes procrastinate. And at this time in my life with so many interruptions from Tennyson and the shear strength it takes to keep up with him most days there is NO way I could have done office work from home. To tell you the honest truth, I decided to do childcare because it was the fastest way to make an income and so many of the work-at-home jobs take a long time to get up and running. On the rough days and weeks I just keep telling myself that this is just for a season. I won't do this forever.

Being a stay-at-home mom was always a dream of mine, but as time passed I just never thought it was going to be financially possible. Of course I figured I'd just be caring for my little one, not 4 one-year olds and an almost 3-year old, but.......The point is that even though things haven't worked out exactly the way I imagined I find peace knowing that I am the one that cares for my little boy every day. All I have to do is look in Tennyson's face and I realize that this is my dream coming true.

A Young Man's Battle

Yesterday Tom, Tennyson, and I visited a former student of Tom's in the hospital. Tyler was recently diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and he was in for his 3rd round of chemo. My heart just hurts for him. He's 14. He's tired. He's sick. He's bald. He's starting high school this year. Can you even imagine what he's going through? Tyler is blessed to have a great support system in his parents, twin brother, and lots of friends.

I know we all have a lot going on in our lives. I know you probably don't even know this family. But I just want to ask that you be praying for Tyler. He's such an amazing young man and he's got an awfully long road ahead of him. Thankfully, his prognosis is good, but for this young soccer player you can imagine his disappointment in missing out on the season.

A good friend of their family is organizing meals, house work, etc. hopefully to cover the entire 42-week chemo schedule. If you feel lead to do more than pray please let me know so we can put you on the "helper" list.

Otherwise, please keep him, and his family, in your prayers. Pray for God's almighty healing power. Amen.

Walking Photos & Stats

Here are some photos of our little Tennyson Harper walking!!! I tell you what, this boy is amazing! In such a short time he's pretty much left his crawling days behind, and if he falls while he's walking he gets right back up and keeps going! I love that he gets such a kick out of doing the most basic of things. He laughs and squeals like he invented it. It's awesome!





Tennyson went for his 12 month check-up today and all went well. He's now 23.6 lbs. and (supposedly) 29.75 inches, but the doctor said right away that he thinks he's quite a bit taller than that. You know how they measure them, by lying them down on the paper and making a quick mark on it by their head and their squirming feet.

Tennyson was a trooper during the finger prick, and aside from trying to eat his bandaid he barely noticed it. He cried during the shots, of course, but Mommy was finally brave enough to hold him this time. He calmed down pretty well afterwards thanks to a warm bottle and his teddy bear blanket. We opted not to give him 2 of the immunizations, as we felt he was a little too little for them yet. If he needs them before kindergarten I think we've got plenty of time.

The doctor did say that his red blood cell count was on the low side of normal. So we really need to make sure he gets more iron in his diet. Tennyson is somewhat at a disadvantage because he doesn't have teeth yet, but we're going to try ground beef and maybe some creamed spinach. Wish us luck with that!