Yes, apparently one or both Jason and I say “oofta.” Yes, we also live in North Dakota, so it probably happens more than we ever realize. This fact was hammered home to us the other night at supper when Jason said, “oofta” after A had a coughing spell. K looked at him and said, “Asa poopy?” So apparently, we not only use the word oofta, but we use it as an expletive when changing a smelly diaper.

More and more over the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing K repeat things that we have said to him. One night, Jason was giving him two choices for getting his diaper changed. K kept telling Jason that he didn’t want to have his (poopy) diaper changed. He wanted to wear it. (On a side note, you can tell we’re not exactly steaming down the road of potty learning :-). ) Jason told him, “That’s not a choice.” Later that night during the bedtime routine, K and Jason were talking and at one point, K said to Jason, “No, Daddy, that not a choice.”

Last week, we spent a little time with my mother-in-law and father-in-law. One of the days, my nieces (ages 6 and 4 were over). At one point, I heard them arguing, and the six year old was saying, “That’s fair!” to her sister over whether or not she needed to share some toys with her. Fast forward to this morning. I was showing K the new library books we had checked out for this week. He was pretty excited about them, and he kept pulling them out of the bag and saying, “That very fair!”

Then, there are the things he picks up that I’m not sure where they came from. “You know better, Mommy!” “A, you being bad!” “No, no, no, no, no!” These are not things we say to him. I know that now that his peers are speaking more and we are around more and different people, his pool of experiences to draw from also grows.

He’s at an age where he is such a sponge. He doesn’t have preconceived ideas of what is fun or not fun (video games vs. books) or what music is good or not good (pop music vs. opera). He loves so many different things. I think that his new tendency to repeat things that we say at just the right time is good for us in more than one way. While it reminds me that he’s always listening to what we say, it also reminds me that he is picking stuff up All. The. Time. I am raising a little sponge, and I want him to be able to absorb all that he can before this time ends.

This is a quote from the book of 2 Samuel in the old testament of the bible. Through October and November, I was attending a bible study at my church studying the life of David. One of the day’s homework was about this verse. “and David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.” At first, I read over it and blew past it. Then, when I went back, I thought about how it must feel to be doing something with all his might. Then, I thought about how he was praising the Lord with all his might. To me, that sounds like a very beautiful picture. Although, I’m sure to some of those around him, it probably looked more strange than anything else.

One of the questions in the study was “When was the last time you saw someone doing something with all their might?” or something similar. I thought about it for a while, and I really didn’t have many examples. The one thing that came to mind was thinking about how athletes celebrate after winning a championship game. Seeing them jumping and screaming and crying and just laying on the ground in awe is what came to my mind. Then, I wondered when was the last time I did something with all my might. I apologize in advance to anyone who thinks this is more than they want to know. The last time, I did something with all my might (here’s your last chance to stop reading) was childbirth and pushing. Most of you other moms who have been through labor know what I’m talking about, right? That was great, because it was for my kids. Of course, I would do all that I could for them.

So, again, I was thinking, thinking… This month, I committed to NaBloPoMo. I missed two days, but I have definitely blogged on days when I would rather have skipped. I mentioned at the end of last year that Jason’s sister is doing a photography project that involves taking a picture every day for a year. She’s sharing them online at her Flickr account. It’s called Project 365. It got me wishing that I had some sort of neat project that I could commit to like that. I’m actually still wishing that, and since it’s coming to the end of the year (can you believe it?!?!?), I’ve started thinking about it again. Unfortunately, last year, I didn’t do much about these thoughts. I’m hoping and praying that this year, I will make a commitment to something. I’d like to do something meaningful and challenging. For a year? Maybe not. I’m not committed to a year, but I would like to do something that stretches and challenges me. Maybe, I can do something with all my might.

I’m still waiting on the results of my pulmonary function test. My appointment for that test was on November 5. When I asked the tech about how long I should expect to wait for the results, she said that I could probably expect them within a week. Well, it’s now been a week and two days, and I’m still waiting. In the meantime, my cough is getting better. I was able to sleep in my bed last night for the first time since October 23rd. It was nice to be back in my room. As much as I don’t like feeling sick and coughing, I really don’t like sleeping in a bed that’s not mine for over 3 weeks.

I was hoping that this would be fairly easily resolved. I thought maybe I’d be lucky. I’d do the PFT test, and they would get a clear result. I’m actually still praying for that. I do think it’s more likely from what I’ve read and heard that the result will be inconclusive meaning that more tests are needed. I find that to be pretty frustrating. For one, I want to know what’s going on with my body and fix it. The other reason is that I haven’t given up hope for being able to run the half marathon in Fargo in May. It’s a pretty slim chance, and the door is closing on my chances the longer I have to wait. I still have that as my ultimate goal, though. If I end up not being able to do the half, I do know a few people who have decided to run the 5k, so that is my backup plan.

I told Jason today that life is kind of funny. When I was running, I was hoping that something would hurt or stop me from being able to run. Now that I’ve had to take a break, and it looks like this is going to be a harder goal to achieve than I originally though, I really want to do it!

I’m planning to call my doctor on Monday to see if she’s heard anything. I hate to be a bother, but I’m wondering if maybe some paperwork got misplaced somewhere or something. It just seems like 7 work days is a long time to wait for results of a fairly simple test. For all of you who pray, I would appreciate any prayers in this area.

Now that K is three, I see some big changes coming. First, I’ve noticed that he’s becoming a preschooler and no longer a toddler right before my eyes. He puts his own shoes on when he wants to. He is starting to use the potty. He has great conversational skills. He has a great imagination. He is dropping his nap. He is telling us that he wants to start wearing underwear and using the potty. It doesn’t seem real that he could go from such a tiny baby to this little boy. It is amazing and a little sad all at the same time.

A is growing up, too. I know it has to happen, but at the same time I’m not quite ready. A is walking. He’s dancing. He also pushes cars and makes a car-like noise. He is also slimming out. When I look at pictures of him from his birthday in July and now, I can see how he’s growing and looking more and more like K and Jason. If it weren’t for his blonde (WHERE DID HE GET THIS???) hair, I think he’d look almost exactly like Jason and K. As it is, I regularly get comments about the resemblance between the three of them. Luckily, I was the container that carried both K and A, so I can get at least that much credit.

I’ve always heard people say the same sorts of things about little kids. “Enjoy them when they’re small.” “They grow so fast.” “Before you know it they’ll be… (going off to school, driving, getting married, you name it).” Recently, I’ve been thinking about another saying. “The days may go slow, but the years go fast.”

And, because I’ve been overloading with pictures lately, here are a few more.

Baby K

K with his lego tower

Baby A

A eating a caramel apple

Yes, I know that sounds silly. I’m sure a lot of people I know read my blog. When I started this blog, though, most of the people who read it were online friends or people who just happened to stumble upon it somehow or were married to me. Tonight, I was talking to my friend, Erin, and she said that she met someone at a craft show or fair that had heard of her products from my blog! She tried to describe her to me, and I’m wondering if it was Crystal, but I don’t know for sure. Was it you, Crystal?

Most of you who know me know that I’m always up for a good parenting, breastfeeding, or most any other topic discussion. In fact, last night, a friend told me that she thought I would do a good job working for QVC as a host of one of their shows! She said I could just sit and talk about anything!!! I had a good laugh over that one. So, my point is that when I started this blog, it was an outlet for some of those thoughts that other people get sick of hearing. Not everyone in my life wants to talk about breastfeeding and blood donation or why I choose to nurse a 3 year old and a 1 year old or the latest breastfeeding book or blog that I came across. There are lots of thoughts in my head, and sometimes the audience for these thoughts just isn’t there, so it’s times like those when I let it out on my blog.

We are! Members of Minnesota Public Radio that is. When our TV took a turn for the worse last month, we found that there was significantly more time to listen to the radio. Neither Jason nor I are hooked on one type of music. We both have pretty eclectic tastes. Because of that, we find it hard to find a station that satisfies all of our tastes. We end up using iTunes or our iPods for getting our fix of music. When we’re listening to the radio though, we are usually listening to MPR.

Jason started listening to MPR a while back. I resisted, because at the time I was hard-cord Republican, and I felt like there was too much lefty liberal stuff on there. I’m not sure if that was true or if I just heard what I wanted to hear. I’m guessing it was more likely the latter. As time went on, I noticed that I was more and more interested in what I heard while he was listening to MPR, and I noticed that less and less of what I heard was political. It was just interesting stuff.

Off the top of my head, I can think of several programs that we regularly listen to. Instead of TiVo’ing the latest TV shows, we are often downloading the latest podcasts of our favorite programs. My favorites are Midmorning with Kerry Miller, Midday with Gary Eichten, Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, and the Sunday Morning Puzzler. Some of Jason’s favorites are Science Friday and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!

One of the things that I like about listening to MPR is how I feel after I’ve listened to it. I feel like I used my time wisely. I feel smarter. I feel more interesting myself. I like the fact the variety of topics and perspectives I get. It took me a while to believe Jason when he told me about it, but now that I’m listening regularly, I’m hooked! Lots of other kids can sing the lyrics of songs they hear on the radio in the car, what will my kids take away from our time in the car? I can only imagine!

Have you ever heard about Compassion International? If you have attended many Christian music concerts, there’s a good chance, you have. There’s also a good chance that I’ve talked a little about Compassion to you if I talk to you on a regular basis.

Our family sponsors a child through Compassion. Her name is Daniela, and she lives in Honduras. She is 13, and she and I share the same birthday. That’s actually how I decided which child to pick at that Bebo Norman concert in 2004. Choosing to sponsor a child had been something I had been thinking about doing for a while. In October of 2004, Jason and I went to a Bebo Norman concert as part of my birthday present. During the intermission, I decided to go look at the Compassion table. I told Jason, “How about this? If I see one and one of the kids shares my birthday, that’s how we’ll decide if we sponsor someone or not.” Very nice, huh? So, we walked back to the tables where they display the profiles of the children who need sponsors. I looked down, and what do you think happened? The very first profile I looked at was Daniela’s. She and I share a birthday, too! My decision was pretty easy.

Since then, we’ve been supporting her with a monthly contribution. We also try to send a little something extra for birthdays and Christmas. When I can get my act together, I also send her pictures. She writes to us. She usually sends a picture that she has drawn or colored for the boys (and me, too, I suppose). We share prayer requests, and we get to know each other. It’s easy for me to become complacent about my sponsorship. I just put it on the American Express and let the auto withdrawl take care of itself, right?

That’s sort of how things were going. Then, I started reading, yes, you guessed it 5 Minutes for Mom. One of their editors, Jennifer, is on a Compassion trip right now. She is in the Dominican Republic, and she has been blogging about her experiences along with a few other bloggers. Reading her experiences and the experiences of the other bloggers has reminded me what a responsibility I have. Yes, my $32/month is good. Yes, it does help Daniela in a way that is so vitally important, but I need to do more than that. I need to be regularly praying for her and her family. I also need to be an active participant in our correspondence. I’m pretty sure that God didn’t want me to sponsor Daniela solely for the money. He could have found that money from a few different places if that had been the goal. I’m more than a little sure that there’s something to be learned from this experience both for Daniela and myself.

Having read some of these personal experiences this week has brought back to me the blessings I have been giving, and it has also pointed out to me the responsibility I have chosen to take upon myself. Maybe you are in the same place I was 4 years ago. Have you thought about it but never done it? Lately in the car, I’ve been hearing this commercial on the radio. It says something like, “You saw a homeless family on the street today. You almost stopped to see if they needed some help. You got a letter in the mail today from a local charity. You almost sent them a donation…” There’s more, but I can’t remember it. Then, at the end, it says, “Don’t almost give.” That line always gets me. There are so many times when I almost. I almost call someone when I think they might be down. I almost give the last cash I have when I see someone who might need it. I almost send a card. I almost say something. I almost do it. Don’t stop there. Do it! Make someone else’s life a little better.

I’ve been counting down in my head to my 100th post for a while now. Then, I realized that I missed it! Whoops. So, for my 101st post on this blog, I decided to do a list of 101 things about me (and my family). Here it is:

1. My mom and I shared a hospital room with my high school best friend and her mom when we were born (2 days apart).
2. We didn’t find out about that until we were 17 years old, because we weren’t from the same town until her family moved at age 14.
3. When I was younger, I thought I would become a nurse, a teacher, and a pet store employee when I grew up.
4. When I was around 7 or 8 years old, I started putting the same 3 items on my Christmas list every year: a phone in my room, a pet, and another brother or sister.
5. I have one sibling.
6. I never got any of those things.
7. Before I could read (well), my parents used to give me the mail addressed to “Current Resident” and tell me it was for me.
8. They gave me mailings from Byron Dorgan and told me he was sending me mail.
9. I believed them until I was far too old to believe that sort of thing.
10. I had a great childhood.
11. I have great parents.
12. Most of my childhood memories revolve around playing at the neighbor hood park, playing with friends in my yard, or being with my extended family.
13. I learned to read before kindergarten.
14. I have loved to read for as long as I can remember.
15. When my brother had bowling league, I spent the time at the library
16. I’m not sure he’d appreciate me reminding people he was in a bowling league.
17. Fourth grade was my favorite year of elementary school. Thanks, Mrs. Becker!
18. By 6th grade, I had read nearly all the children/youth books in our library and checked out a Stephen King novel.
19. My sixth grade teacher called my parents to see what they thought about me having that book.
20. I didn’t actually read it. It was a little too creepy for my age.
21. When I was in seventh grade, I had my first sort-of-real boyfriend.
22. We didn’t date or call each other or anything, but we were “together.”
23. When I was a junior in high school, I had two teachers tell me that he still “had the hots” for me.
24. I doubt the truth of #22.
25. I have been a North Dakota resident my entire life.
26. I flew on an airplane for the first time when I was 16. I went to St. Louis, Missouri with 3 classmates and a teacher from my school.
27. FHA (now known as FCCLA) was responsible for most of my travel prior to turning 18.
28. Because of FCCLA, I was able to go to St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA, and Tokyo, Japan.
29. I spent 6 weeks in Japan with a host family the summer I was 17.
30. I climbed (part of) Mt. Fuji.
31. I lived in central Tokyo when I was in Japan.
32. My Japanese family drove a Ford minivan.
33. When I was in Tokyo, I felt like I could not breathe because there were so many people and buildings all around.
34. When I came home from Japan, I remember what North Dakota air smelled like as I stepped off the airplane.
35. The only reason I needed to attend 4 years of high school was for my senior english and my senior social studies class. I had enough classes/credits to graduate after 3 years.
36. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was in high school.
37. That is not very likely when you live in North Dakota.
38. When I wrote my senior english paper about my future career, I chose civil engineering.
39. I was an engineering major for 3 days in college.
40. I also majored in speech language pathology.
41. and athletic training
42. and elementary education
43. and middle school education.
44. I stuck with the last two.
45. I have a dual major in elementary and middle level education.
46. I have a masters in special education.
47. I met my husband, Jason, in my first semester of college.
48. I knew who he was in a class of 150ish people.
49. He didn’t know me, but it all worked out in the end.
50. We officially met at a Campus Crusade for Christ Christmas Conference.
51. We dated for 10 months
52. and broke up for a year and a half.
53. Then, we dated for 8 months,
54. were engaged for 8 moths,
55. and got married in June of 2002.
56. Jason says that he knew we would get married the night we first met.
57. It took me another 3 years to figure that out.
58. I don’t like the ends of chicken strips.
59. I don’t really like most meat at all.
60. If I had my choice, I would be vegetarian.
61. I have two sons.
62. I had two unmedicated labors.
63. I am breastfeeding both my 15 month old and my almost 3 year old (will be 3 on Nov 3).
64. I am married to an early adopter (someone who jumps onto new trends early).
65. I am not an early adopter.
66. Jason has introduced me to blogging,
67. NPR/MPR,
68. and being politically moderate.
69. I’m no good at moderation. I like all or nothing.
70. I used to teach special education before I had K.
71. When I tell people that, they say, “you must be really patient.”
72. I laugh when they say that.
73. I am a very emotional person.
74. I am easily moved to cry.
75. There is a CVS commercial that makes me cry.
76. I like the Pixar movie Cars more than my son, I think.
77. I am planning to run a half marathon in May of 2009.
78. I used to think that I wanted to have six children.
79. Now, I’m not sure how many I want.
80. For the first two years of our marriage, I did almost no cooking.
81. We had a rotation of about 4 meals that we used to space out meals in restaurants.
82. In the summer of 2004, I decided to start trying one new meal a week.
83. Now we usually eat 2-4 new meals a week.
84. I am trying to get rid of high fructose corn syrup in our house.
85. I love cinnamon rolls.
86. I love caramel rolls.
87. I once found (what I think was) a cockroach in the basement of the apartment building/house we were living it.
88. I put it in a sandwich bag and left it on the kitchen table to show to Jason when he got home from work.
89. Thinking about that now still gives me the creeps.
90. I sometimes get the urge to move somewhere far away from North Dakota.
91. I will probably never move all that far from North Dakota…maybe Moorhead or East Grand Forks?
92. I am passionate about breastfeeding and the benefits of breastmilk for moms and babies.
93. I am becoming more and more interested and passionate about conservation, green living, fair trade, and organic food.
94. I want to learn to knit
95. I have started playing the piano again, but our piano badly needs to be tuned.
96. I am pleased with where my life is 10 years after high school graduation.
97. I miss my brother and sister-in-law and wish they lived closer.
98. I love to watch football
99. and hockey.
100. Having kids has significantly reduced my sports watching time.
101. Ideally, if I have more children, I would love to give birth to them at The Farm.

There you have it! Those are my 101 things. If you got all the way to the end, I’m impressed!

A couple months ago, I found Paper Bridges through a carnival from 5 Minutes for Books. I clicked around her site and found several interesting posts. One of them was a book giveaway. I entered and won this book. She has another book giveaway going now. If you have ever heard of or read For Men Only or For Women Only, you might enjoy having this book even if it’s not directed at you. If you have (or will soon have) a teenage boy, you definitely will enjoy this book. Click on over and check it out!

5MinutesForMom is having a sleeping angel contest. They are giving away a South Shore Children’s Bedroom Set from Home & Bedroom Furniture. They are asking people to post pictures of their sleeping babies, and the winner will have their choice of either the Lily Rose or the Summer Breeze set. I would definitely choose Summer Breeze if I were to win.

So, here is the picture. It’s adorable, and it’s one of my favorites. We were at Jason’s parents’ house one day this summer. I ran a few errands, and when I came back, I walked in the front door and saw this…

My Sleeping Angels