Reaping what we sow?
So baby Jay gets very angry if he's tired and we're not doing what we can to help him sleep. Ijust figured this out this morning, when he was throwing a fit, having eaten only an hour and a half ago. Finally I walked him around 'til he dozed off- not very long. Short of putting him in the car and driving to Durham, how can we help him learn to fall asleep by himself? Anyone?

- posted by Lenise @ 10:41 AM |

 
Prayer request
Please pray for a dear Christian friend of mine who has been struggling in her marriage due to her husband's behavior. They have been in counseling, but he just flagrantly deceived and betrayed her this week after praying for blessing on their meeting. I know she has been doing everything possible to honor her vows and has been seeking God's guidance, so please pray that He would comfort and guide her in where she can go from here.

- posted by Lenise @ 10:33 AM |

 
Born too late
I know Jay's too young to be sitting up- he's actually on his way to falling over in that play shot, but he was going about it so slowly that I had time to take a picture before righting him. He was actually propped in the corner, but really wanted to play with his cube, so...

Meantime, as Paul mentioned, we were able to visit some local friends on Christmas day. The girls decided to create some snow, and peeled apart a good number of large curds from a chunk of styrofoam before their mischief was discovered. Kids! Ha ha, we don't have to worry about Jay doing that sort of thing for years!

December 26, I wake up and come downstairs to find little pieces of styrofoam in the living and dining rooms. Cats!!!

- posted by Lenise @ 8:43 PM |

 

Playing with my cube
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 8:42 PM |

 

Ready to go to church Christmas Eve
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 8:41 PM |

 

Partied out!
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 8:41 PM |

 
Yushchenko Wins!!
Hooray for Ukraine!!! TulipGirl relates that her children are even more excited about Yushchenko's win than they were about W's, and rightly so. A non-fraudulent electoral victory in Ukraine is absolutely unprecedented, and it only happened because the people refused to yield this time. It's not just about democracy or even liberty- it's about unwillingness to countenance dishonesty in government. May God bless them with an open society which resists fraud in all its guises.

- posted by Lenise @ 10:25 AM |

 
Short article
On religion and the presidential election in Ukraine.

- posted by Lenise @ 3:33 PM |

 
Not a good day
But at least baby Jay and I are cooperating in one effort- we're both pulling out my hair! :7

- posted by Lenise @ 5:57 PM |

 
This is sad
And I don't even like the whole Santa myth, but good grief- way to bully a 7th grader, principal PC! If you're going to be THAT way, don't call it a holiday dance- call it a winter dance. This stuff is getting ludicrous.

- posted by Lenise @ 5:54 PM |

 
Sad, interesting story
So there's a federal law forbidding the sale of firearms to people with a history of severe mental illness. Yes, this does run headlong into privacy regulations. It will be interesting to see how this plays out!

- posted by Lenise @ 3:30 PM |

 
Anyone have time on your hands?
I could use an extra couple of hours in the day- though it might not help without an extra adult to entertain Mr. Grumpypants. Actually, he's very cheerful and likes to smile and (today, anyway) laugh at nearby people who devote their full attention to him. Too bad we can't just play with babies all day- it would be nice!

Baby Jay is learning about his hands and feet these days. Grandma and Grandpa Baxter bought him a soft cube that has a chime inside and handles and rings on the outside, and he seems to enjoy pushing it. I sat him in his car seat on the dining room table to watch me wrap Christmas gifts. It worked really well, because I could convince him that I was devoting vast amounts of attention to him while still getting some work done. Entering addresses on my computer with an infant overseer was not as successful an endeavor. Maybe if I had learned touch-typing...

Anyway, we finally managed to get the Christmas tree securely ensconced in its stand (we being everyone except me) Sunday when some good friends from church came over. It took the ideas of several, a passel of screws, a Dremel tool, a bunch of wooden shims, and the muscles of at least 2 tree-wrasslers. Anyway, it looks and smells wonderful and helps summon some Christmas spirit around the Baxter abode!

- posted by Lenise @ 10:29 PM |

 
I'm calling it
Baby Jay laughed tonight! It wasn't quite long enough for a giggle (there was only one warble), but it was more laughy than his previous grunty-throaty smile noises (does anyone know what I'm talking about?). Carol's tip about the kissy noises did the trick, though only once so far. (Of course, now he's crying in his crib because daddy's trying to make him sleep there and is occupied "batterying" the mobile.) Maybe he'll laugh again tomorrow

- posted by Lenise @ 10:17 PM |

 

Sleeping with the kitties
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 4:09 PM |

 

Dreaming of sheep =]
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 4:08 PM |

 

Piano lesson with Daddy
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 4:07 PM |

 

Winsome baby
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 4:06 PM |

 

Photographic evidence that our son has eyebrows!
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 4:05 PM |

 
Shop Blue! Beat the fascists!
I received the following from a co-worker. Wouldn't it be nice if government was unobtrusive enough that businesses didn't find it necessary to contribute to political campaigns? I'm sure they could find worthier causes for hundreds of thousands of dollars! Btw, I'm very disappointed in Sonic and Arby's.

Subject: The politics of shopping
With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of
whom we patronize relative to their 2000 Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Shopping:
* Price Club/Costco donated $225K, of which 99% went to democrats;
WalMart, $467K, 97% to republicans; K-Mart, $524K, 86% to republicans;
Home Depot, $298K, 89% to republicans;
Target, $226K, 70% to republicans;
Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to republicans;
* Rite Aid, $517K, 60% to democrats; 3M Co., $281K, 87% to republicans;
Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to republicans;
Amway, $391K, 100% republican;
Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% republicans;
* Warnaco (undergarments), $55K, 73% to democrats;
B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to republicans;
Proctor &Gamble, $243K, 79% to republicans;
* Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, $153K, 99% to democrats;
* Estee Lauder, $448K, 95% to democrats;
* Guess ? Inc., $145K, 98% to democrats;
* Calvin Klein, $78K, 100% to democrats;
* Liz Claiborne, Inc., $34K, 97% to democrats;
* Levi Straus, $26K, 97% to democrats;
* Olan Mills, $175K, 99% to democrats.
Spirits:
Coors, $174K, 92% to republicans; (also Budweiser - sd)
* Gallo Winery, $337K, 95% to democrats;
Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines - as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644K, 80% to
republicans;
* Southern Wine &Spirits, $213K, 73% to democrats;
* Joseph E. Seagrams &Sons (includes beverage business, plus considerable media interests), $2M+, 67% democratic;
Restaurants/food companies:
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% republican;
Outback Steakhouse, $641K, 95% republican;
* Sonic Corporation, $83K, 98% democrat;
Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell), $133K, 87% republican;
Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the
Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis), $242K, 83%
republican;
* Triarc Companies (Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's, Pasta Connections),
$112K, 96% democrats;
Waffle House, $279K, 100% republican;
McDonald's Corp., $197K, 86% republican;
Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% republican;

Hotels:
* Hyatt Corporation, $187K, 80% to democrats;
Mariott International, $323K, 81% to republicans;
Holiday Inns, $38K, 71% to republicans.









Choose Blue
Shop locally and shop BLUE
Use the US Post Office, not Fedex or UPS
Use the corner hardware store- Home Depot is a huge contributer to the GOP.





Please send to like minded friends and urge them to draw a line in the sand. You can make a difference now. 80% of annual retail business
is done in the next three weeks!

- posted by Lenise @ 1:48 PM |

 
Try this
This is the one I wanted to post, but something is up with realtor.com. It won't let me send links via e-mail. Anyway, if we hadn't just refinanced, I'd be real tempted to give this one a look!

**Link updated: if it's not a 4 BR Victorian, it's not THE one. (What a hassle!)

- posted by Lenise @ 10:35 AM |

 
Anyone want to be my neighbor?

- posted by Lenise @ 4:26 PM |

 
Who knew?

- posted by Lenise @ 11:00 AM |

 
Bragging on my town
We participated in a cherished local tradition last night: the annual Mebane Christmas parade. Living four blocks from the commercial district has its perks, and walking to downtown events is one of the biggest. Paul "wore" baby Jay, who looked like he was about to fall out the whole time. But babies are tough, and frozen ears and a frozen nose were not sufficient to prevent Jay's losing most of the parade to slumber, sirens and marching bands included! The whole town turned out, it seemed, and we got delegations from most of the armed forces marching, including (?) the Coast Guard- I think they're armed- in any case, there's not a whole lot of coast around here, so I'm guessing they had to travel a ways! Being the only nighttime Christmas parade in the county, ours gets pretty much every organization, marching band, etc. in the county, and a few from elsewhere, making for a rather long parade- I think we left after two hours or so, when most of our friends' girls were worn out, which left the second-oldest (5yo?) sobbing that she didn't get to see the end. :( Poor kid!

Even here in NC, the evenings get quite cold in December, so everyone loves to see the Re-Max float with its vertical flame- thrower (you know, from a hot-air balloon). If they were to try nighttime parades in the winter in Ohio, every other float would have to be similarly equipped for ANYONE to turn out- and with good reason! Anyway, our friends' girls enjoyed the parade, and it always gives me a beautiful feeling of wholesome Americana. A good time was had by all!

- posted by Lenise @ 7:07 PM |