Garden Time

One thing Erin and I have strived to do as a parents as been to take advantage of or create moments were are children are able to engage new things. As we entered the month of May, Eliana and I planted several small seeds that would hopefully yield a small harvest of cucumbers and squash. Well, to my dismay, these little seeds took off and a decision laid in my hands, "Do I keep these little sproutlings and make a garden in the back yard or do I throw them away when Eliana is not looking?" Well, I decided to do something no one in my immedi ate family have ever done, so I made the garden! To date we have several little cucumbers and squash growing. Oh yeah...and we planted one watermelon vine. Stay tuned to see what we get. You can see Eliana watering the plants with such care and precision.

A Long Night

Well we have been home now for a few days and I was bragging on how well Harper was doing until...LAST NIGHT! Wow! He decided to make up for his restful evenings. Erin and I have tried to work out our strategy of who does what and when. Well we were both up and down throughout the entire night. Our little man just could not get settled. Or when he did get settled he decided to fill the ol' diaper. Just when he was cleaned and ready to rest, he was hungry. Erin was able to sleep in a little this morning while I took care of Eliana. Amazingly, Eliana slept through everything last night. Our little girl has proven to be a trooper and a great big sister. Eliana seems to be doing good with the new transition, however, when she saw Harper nursing this afernoon, she decided that she needed to be in mommy's lap. Fortunately, Erin was finishing with Harper and could give her the attention she was needing from her Mom. We certainly still have quite a process ahead of us for our little girl. We feel so blessed and fortunate to have our beautiful daughter and new son. Pray that we have a night with a little more rest. :)

Daddy's Arms

Well as I sit and write this entry, I am praying that I did not catch my daughters illness. This past Tuesday evening, Eliana and I were down visiting my friend Chris Cinnamon and his young son, while my wife Erin hosted a baby shower in our home. I had noticed that Eliana had not been feeling well, but she was still in good spirits. Within moments of sitting down at the table to share an incredible bowl of chili and grilled cheese sandwich, Eliana walked over and exploded all over the carpet and couch. This was a great display of projectile vomit. WOW! I had no idea a little girl her size could manage such volume. Needless to say it was a prolonged evening. The highlight of the evening was me holding Eliana in the shower as she continued to expel any remnants of what remained in her little belly. I tried to comfort her by saying "It's was going to be okay" and "just let it go". For the last several days I have continued to think about how God gives us glimpses of Himself and the relationship he longs to have with us. As I have thought about that moment, my mind has continued to drift back to the evening that I confessed my sin to God and vowed to make Christ the Lord and Savior of my life. That was a moment that in a metaphor, God held me and allowed me to cast all my sin/vomit upon Him. It was as though he were replaying, "Let it go...that's why my Son died for You". My relationship with the Heavenly Father continues to show me the kind of dad I want to be. You see, just has I longed to hold my child at her lowest point, God longs to hold His children in our lowest. The truth is that we are all sick apart from God. Gods arms are open to all of us, may we not fear casting our sin/vomit upon Him.

Sick Little One

Well as I type, my little girl is standing between me and the computer wanting to know "where Cookie go?" It is amazing how a little girl with a fever still has the energy to request one of her most favorite things in the world-a fury blue monster that loves cookies. If it were up to my daughter she would live on Sesame Street, but until then she has to settle for the Youtube versions. If you would like to see two of her most favorite Sesame Street segments, click on Cookie Monster or Elmo.