Graham is Two Years Old Today!

Happy Birthday, Graham!!

These are funny things that Graham says that I don't want to forget as he gets older.

Two piece = when he has 2 of something in his hands

Nice = be gentle 

Me too! = I love you

Hudson, love you! Kisses his picture. 

Shut the door, mama 

Down = sit down and play with me 

Right here! = sit here

Ready go, Papa! = ready to go play 

Numatoes = tomatoes 

House = his cardboard box
Resting = lays in the corner for one second and then up again

Abagobble = granola bar

Nannie = banana 

Thump the bed = jump on the bed 

Cozy = wants to snuggle with a blanket 

1, 2, 6 = how he used to count

Amiance = ambulance

More like it! = anything he likes that he doesn't know the name of. (Like almond butter or guacamole)

Cool bus = school bus 
open it out = open it up

City bus = he hears them from inside our apartment in Philly and runs over to the window to see them 

Taxi! 

Oh gosh, funny! 

Hold da mommy = hold me, mommy 

Good boy, mommy = when I do a good job, the best compliment I could ever get

Hey Mommy! = he says hey every few minutes to be sure we are still close. Love that! 

He's learning his numbers, letters and colors. He will point out the ones he knows, so randomly we will hear, "O!" or "W" or "Red!" He can work an iPhone and iPad better and faster than I can.

He loves cherry tomatoes, pickles, tractors, Super Why, Daniel the Tiger, jumping on the bed, playing with Papa Joe, Grandma Betty & Daddy, Thomas the train, dump trucks and dancing to Just Dance videos. He can identify almost any animal including lamas and peacocks plus he's great at making animals noises and fire truck alarms. Thanks to his grandfathers and his daddy he knows the difference between bull dozers, diggers, excavators, front loaders 

and cranes.

Each night at bed time we thank Jesus. Graham has a long list of people he thanks Jesus for. He never forgets Papa Joe,  Zazu (my bro & sis in law's dog) or Hudson. 

We love our big boy and the joy he brings each day. He's so smart and funny. He's loving 

and sensitive and a great big brother to baby Hudson.

We are so proud of him!

Happy 2nd birthday, Graham!

We love you so so much!

My Response to Monty Williams' Words

Don't get me wrong. I love Jesus. I have for many years now. I love His Word and believe it to be true. I would have lost my mind a long time ago without God's Word as my anchor. With that, I agree with every word that Monty Williams said as he honored God, his wife, his family and even the family of the woman responsible for the accident.

BUT, I think that we (us Christians) expect grief and suffering to be tidy. 

What makes me uncomfortable is the unrealistic expectation we put on ourselves as Christians. We quote Romans 8:28 and all should be okay. We often subtly expect our grief to look like resilience and composure just moments after earth shattering tragedy. I'm 100% guilty of distancing myself from grieving friends and family because it made me uncomfortable and I was unsure what to say. I force words I don't mean when I say, "I'm fine" to avoid others feeling uncomfortable. I isolate myself because how I feel about life as we hurt is certainly anything but tidy and composed.

Grief and suffering isn't tidy. In fact, it's excruciating and ugly. It looks like weeping on the bathroom floor for hours screaming for God to intervene. It looks like questioning everything you've ever believed.

While I applaud the example of grace and forgiveness shown in Monty Williams' words, I hope that we, the church, leave space for the untidy, wrestling with God's painful plans, sleepless nights kind of real grief. 

Let's face it. 
That's the kind of grief we have in common with Jesus anyway.

I want to be better at weeping with those that weep.

Hudson is 7 months old!

Hudson is now 7 months old. Our little miracle. He loves his paci 
(preferably on ice) and has 2 teeth on the bottom. His hair has grown so
 much and has gotten darker. I tease him about his Luke Perry side 
burns. He loves to hold hands too. He's had such a rough road but proves
 over and over again how strong he really is. 

 
Last week Hudson 
got to go on his very first stroller ride around the cardiac intensive 
care unit. At first he hated it but after a few minutes, he loved it. It
 took a lot to pull it off with all of his meds & monitors in tow 
but his sweet nurse, Laura, made it happen. 

 
We are so proud of our boy and feel so privileged to be his mama and daddy!