I Should Be Asleep...

...but instead I can't help but look at cute pictures of my little man (I'm referring to Luke, not Andrew...although Andrew is a cutie too). I seriously don't know how we got so lucky. He just makes every day so great. I'm so grateful that one of the greatest gifts God gives us now (and if not now, definitely in the future) is children.


Luke doesn't crawl yet. I'm not sure he's all that interested for right now. When I put him on his belly, he looks at me like this kind of thing is totally beneath him. He'd rather be walking. But here are some of his first attempts (he did move backwards a little).

You can thank Andrew for Luke's little mohawk. We have fun with whatever little hair he has.

Good Things

I couldn't think of a better theme to connect all the random things I've been meaning to post about. So just call me Martha Stewart.

#1: Good Gifts



I can't take credit for this one. My sister-in-law, Marika, gave me the idea a while ago. Sometimes she makes these personalized blocks as baby gifts. My friend from Japan just had a baby so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. They were SO much fun to make. I tried to pick out things that I knew she would like. I also got some pictures of her off facebook to make the gift more personalized. Hopefully little Hina-chan will like to play with them when she gets older. To top it all off, I sewed a little bag to go with them. I'm not much of a crafty person but this project might have won me over a little.

#2: Good Eats

Butternut Squash Soup. So delicious and not hard to make.

6T chopped onion
3T butter
6 c. squash, peeled and cubed
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp pepper
4 oz cream cheese
salt to taste
3 cans chicken broth

Saute the onions in butter until tender. Add all but the cream cheese. Boil twenty minutes (in the broth) until squash is tender. Puree squash and cream cheese in batches until smooth. Return to pot, heat through but do not boil.

#3: Good For You

The Green Smoothie. This tastes good and makes you feel good. There are many versions of the green smoothie but this is the version that I like.

Spinach (a couple generous handfuls)
Collard (1-2 leaves)
Kale (1-2 leaves)
1 Mango
1 Peeled and diced apple
Blueberries (a handful)
Water (about 1.5 cups)
Juice (if you need it sweeter)

Cut everything up, blend and enjoy.

#4: Good Books


The Alchemist. I usually don't recommend books or movies because I'm not sure other people will like them as much as I do. However, I'm making an exception for this book because I absolutely loved it. It won't take long to read and was interesting all the way to the last page. Even Andrew read it and loved it (I think it might be the second book he's ever read cover to cover --don't judge him-- he reads but is usually limited to articles such as ESPN, Cell, Wikipedia, did I mention ESPN?...you get the idea).

#5: Good Lookin'

That's easy. Little Luke's baby blues.


#6: Good Times

Gardening (or trying to garden) with Luke ...even though it's probably still too cold.

More German Wisdom

Someone showed this video in church last Sunday and I absolutely loved it. It said some things that I definitely needed to hear. I think that we get so busy and caught up in our day to day activities that sometimes we need to take a timeout and evaluate how we're doing spiritually. This message by Elder F. Enzio Busche helped me do that this week. Don't be scared by the image below...it's not about sin. It's inspiring and definitely worth 7 minutes of your time.



I think it is also interesting to read a little about Elder Busche's life. It gives some insight into why (perhaps) he came up with these thoughts.

He Eats!

After much anticipation, Luke has ventured into eating solid food. Well...actually just rice cereal for now (and occasionally some banana). But he seems to like it a lot which surprised me because he refuses to drink formula. He must be a Stacey...we love food. So far the biggest struggle is that he really wants to feed himself. It's a wrestle for the spoon. Here are some pics and a video (I hate when I re-watch the videos and realize what a dork I sound like. It's amazing what babies can make you say).


Here is Luke with one of his favorite animals. He likes to fall asleep with his froggy.





This is just Luke eating a banana (we have about 10 videos of him eating...Andrew said I could only post one).

Creativity

My friend posted this video on her blog and I thought it was really inspiring. I often whine about not being very creative. I think after watching this I need to stop whining and just try more. My definition of 'create' is definitely too narrow. Enjoy.

Original link to video

Cowboy Up Brother Miller!

This is dedicated to our friend, Chris Miller, who is being deployed to Iraq in a few days. Chris - you had my respect when you were the only guy to chug a gallon of milk in less than 15 minutes and not throw up (you also won the heart of my roommate, Jane). But now, my respect is tenfold. You've always been willing and excited to serve your country...no matter who the Commander-in-chief is. Hopefully the rest of us can learn a thing or two from your example. Good luck. We're praying for you, Jane, and the girls. We look forward to dirt bikes in Idaho, The Scarlet Pimpernel, black fireworks and more milk chug contests again soon. I promise that t-shirt is on the way.

3^3

Cheers to Lauren McCann Stacey.
Cheers on her 3^3rd birthday.
Cheers to the woman raising two boys.
And to the Californian toughing it out in consistently cloudy, constantly cold Columbus.
Cheers to her fiery flare
And especially to her curly hair!

Happy Birthday Lauren!