Here are a couple pictures of active Analise while she was playing in the Romper Room at church one Wednesday evening. She’s quite the climber! She was playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa in the photo above, and below she was working hard to get over the rainbow arch.

Mother’s Day Musings

We celebrated my first official Mother’s Day this weekend. Life’s been really busy around our house lately… Brian’s wrapping up the semester, and he was gone Friday-Saturday for a bike race in Tennessee (more later!). We’ve been busy helping get the new church ready for the kick-off this past Sunday, so it’s seemed like life’s just been racing by and we’ve hardly had any time together as a family. Sunday was a somewhat quieter day, though. Brian’s grandma, his mom, Beverly, and his brother, Matthew, joined us for lunch at our house. It’s wonderful to share the blessing of our house with others! We had a great lunch, and Analise was her usual entertaining self. Brian went for a bike ride with a friend from church, and I got a free dinner from Maui Tacos when he came home.

Now you’re probably wondering…”If you’ve not spent much time together, why in the world would he go off biking on Mother’s Day?” I’ll admit, when he told me he was going riding on our way home from church, I was sharply disappointed. I’ve been really jealous for my husband’s time recently, probably mostly because… well, I don’t know:)… maybe because he’s my husband? He quickly realized I was unhappy, while I quickly realized that his guy times, especially with other guys from church, are as vital to him as time with me. He offered to not go, but we decided that we’d still have the evening together. He had a great ride, and though it seemed like just another afternoon at home with Analise and the house to take care of, I’m really glad he went.

While he was gone, I had some thoughts on being a mother. It really is a new identity that supercedes all your other identities. It’s a good thing, definitely. At times, I wish parenting could be more 50/50 (or even just closer to it!), but when it all comes down to it, mom will take care of it. I was up until 11:30 on Saturday night making all the lunch preparations for Sunday, cleaning up, etc. Brian had fallen asleep on the couch (notably, he’d ridden 100 miles and climbed 2 mountains on his bike, so it wasn’t laziness!). Sunday morning was crazy getting out the door for church, where I almost missed both services because no one came to relieve me in child care (I did manage to find a replacement and enjoyed the service immensely!). I think I changed all the diapers for the day. And finding myself at home on Mother’s Day afternoon, just another day hanging with my sweet girl and picking up the house was a bit of a bummer… but then I realized, “Hey – I get to be a mom. What a great gift!” Analise laughed at her Noah’s Ark animals, climbed all over me, giggled and drooled as we played on the floor and fell asleep curled up on my lap. I’m a mom. It’s only me who truly felt the pain of bringing her into this world, it’s me she reaches for when she’s tired, it’s me who knows exactly how to soothe her to sleep, and it’s her mom she’ll run to when she’s hurt. The good and the bad all come together to make it exactly what it is, and it’s worth it.

Ok, I think that’s enough deep thoughts for tonight. Thanks for hanging in… I’ll post Brian’s biking story tomorrow!

First, some Analise fluff… in her new rocking chair.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!

It’s my first Mother’s Day as a mother myself. In fact, I’m now a stay-at-home-mom, and it’s been a bit of an adjustment to this new job. It’s wonderful to be home with my sweet girl, but at times, I do miss interacting with people and the challenges of working in an office or overseas. I have been learning alot about perspective and convincing myself that staying at home and raising my daughter is the most important thing I can be doing with my life right now.

Anyway, I’ll compose something more verbose another day, but I wanted to share this fun article that I found this week. Pass this onto your favorite stay-at-home mom. I have to add that the working mom’s I know qualify as SuperMom’s in my eyes! Working at home or out of the home, mom’s are priceless!

Stay-At-Home Moms Deserve High Pay, Analysis Shows

By Jessica Wohl
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The old adage that “a mother’s work is never done” remains as true now as ever. Today’s stay-at-home Moms are learning what their predecessors always knew — they’d be making a lot of money doing their job outside the home.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, an informal study conducted by Web site Salary.com shows that stay-at-home moms would earn an average of $131,471 annually, including overtime, if they received a paycheck.

A sampling of the 5.4 million stay-at-home mothers were asked to come up with job titles that fit a general description of their daily routines.

The titles — which reflected the most time-consuming parts of their day — include day-care center teacher, van driver, housekeeper, cook, chief executive officer, nurse and general maintenance worker, the survey showed.

Of course, a stay-at-home parent does not work typical office hours. The hypothetical median salary is based on a 100-hour work week and assumes caring for at least two children of school age.

“The importance of this calculation or this estimate is just calling attention to the fact that being a stay-at-home mom is not a cop out, it’s not the woman’s way out of the workforce and it’s not a job of no value,” said Bill Coleman, senior vice president of compensation at Salary.com. “There is a lot of value there, and some would say it’s even priceless.”

Salary.com, which tracks what jobs pay, suggested that the annual base pay for a 40-hour stay-at-home mom’s workweek would be $43,461. Mothers would earn an additional $88,009 a year for 60 hours of overtime each week.

“I think I should definitely make that much,” said Joanna Butti, who stays at home to care for her twin boys. “It’s a hard job.”

Coleman said feedback on the figure was mixed. Some felt mothers deserved more, some less. In general, though, many were pleased to see a figure above $100,000.

“Stay-at-home moms are enthusiastic and upbeat about their jobs, they didn’t seem to need external validation,” Coleman told Reuters. “They were also happy that they were getting attention, and that somebody was out there telling the world that what they do is valuable, and perhaps more valuable than one would expect.”

Mothers said you cannot attach a figure to the time spent with their kids.

“I’m giving 150 percent of myself to them many hours a day,” said Debra Miley, who stays home with two-year old daughter Olivia and four-month old son Gregory. “You cannot attach a dollar value to the time that you spend nurturing your child if you’re lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom.”

(I’ll post a couple cute pictures from the weekend first, and the long-winded details of our great weekend will be below.)

Panama City Beach, FL

This past weekend, Brian, Analise and I, along with Brian’s parents, went to Panama City Beach, FL for a conference put on by our church, Lakeside Baptist. We had a wonderful time! Brian’s parents babysat so we were really able to be fully involved in everything. The weather, unfortunately, wasn’t what you’d like for a beach trip. We did get to take Analise to the beach on Saturday morning, though it was windy and cool. She liked the feel of the sand, and she was captivated by the sea gulls (and of that, we couldn’t get a smile for any pictures).

The Treasure Within Conference

The first highlight was dinner at the Saltwater Grill – awesome food and great time getting to know two young couples that we’re going to be spending a lot of time with (more later). The worship was excellent, and the sessions were taught by the young adult pastor, Chris Harris. He’s got a gift of speaking truth that really cuts to the heart, and he’s very passionate. It’s really contagious. We spent some good time that evening getting to know several couples that we’ve not known from Lakeside. (Sidenote: Brian grew up in this church, but he’s been away for 10 years. His parents still attend there, and they are very involved. Everyone knows them and Brian, and so we’ve returned to a place where everybody knows our name, but we have to figure out who they are!)

There was a lot planned for Saturday, including an afternoon of fun and activities on the beach. Unfortunately, we had to move our fun indoors. A few guys decided they wouldn’t be deterred by the wind/rain/thunder/lightning and headed to the beach for volleyball. (what were they thinking?!??) Brian’s never one to let rain spoil his plans, and he convinced me to join them. (what were WE thinking?!?) After an hour of diving for balls and nearly blinded by sand, I stumbled back to our room looking very much like a drowned rat. That evening we had dinner with another two couples, who we’ve not met before. These two couples both have children, and it was comical how the conversation kept coming back to kid antics and moments only parents can really appreciate (for one example that was shared, SEE HERE).

Prayer Experience
Saturday evening was one of the most special times of the weekend. We had a “prayer experience” in which the women spent time praying aloud as a group for our husbands, while they gathered around us listening. Then we alternated, and the men prayed for the women. With close to 30 couples there, many of whom we don’t know or only know a bit, it was an intimate glimpse into the lives around us, and an awesome time of appreciating who they are and how God is moving in their relationships. It was like listening in on a phone call between them and God. It was a special time to hear the prayers of our own spouse, as well. Though Brian and I pray together, it’s more for “things” and this prayer time was a very tender time of hearing a heart-to-heart conversation thanking God and appreciating the one He’s given us. We had time with our spouse one-on-one to talk and remind ourselves why we chose each other. It was a sweet time of remembrance, and it really blessed us to see how God has grown us each individually since that time 3 years ago. We also had a time of communion on the beach in the dark windy evening. The rain had subsided and it was a beautiful time to share the Lord’s supper surrounded by the majesty of God in the waves crashing on the beach.
The evening concluded with some great praise and worship time and fun how-well-do-you-know-your-spouse games. It was a long, fun, full day.

Moving on…
One hard part of the weekend is that it’s going to be harder to continue some of the relationships we started this weekend. Brian and I have been praying about where to settle as a family for our church home. Chris and Kathy Harris, who led the retreat this weekend, are leaving Lakeside to start a new church. It’s growing out of an overwhelming college/young adult group with Isaiah 26:8 at its heart: “Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your law, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the desire of our hearts.” They’re going to use small groups of individuals/couples to bring connection to the church body, like the home group ministry that we were a part of in California. We’re really excited at what God’s doing, and we’re really looking forward to being a part of this new ministry bringing Him glory. It has been a hard decision, though, as Lakeside is a wonderful church, and we’ve loved everyone we’ve gotten to know. We’re hoping – and planning – to continue to get to know some of the people that we met this weekend, though we might not see them at Lakeside on a weekly basis.

So if you’re still with me after all that:)… you’ll probably be hearing much more about Clearwater Community Church as our first service will be this coming Sunday. If you think of it, pray that God would be glorified in these new beginnings. We’re excited to embark upon this new adventure with him as a family!

We’re off to Panama City Beach, FL this weekend. Brian and I are going to a marriage conference put on by our church, and Grandma and Grandpa Toone are coming along to babysit. How lucky are we?!? Hopefully there will be a little sunshine so we can introduce Analise to the beach. We’ll have pictures for you on Monday.

Thanks for all your comments thus far… I love knowing people are checking in! It inspires me to blog more:) If you didn’t see Analise with a bow in her hair, go check it out here and tell me if you like it!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Inspired by my wife’s post yesterday, I decided to put together a blog with some of the pictures I like the most from my bike rides here in Alabama. Most of these are from January, February, and March so the leaves still haven’t turned yet. Everything is so green now. You’ll have to wait for the pics from my bike commute today to see just how green!

Beautiful view looking northeast from atop Double Oak mountain.

From atop a different point of Double Oak mountain looking south on a different bike ride.

On Easter, I went for a bike ride that took me down to my brother’s house in Pelham. Since it was Easter, I had originally intended to take an Easter egg, but I forgot it! So I dropped off a water bottle instead.

Easter present for my brother.

Another ride took me past Star Lake in Hoover. As you might be able to see, it gets its name from the manmade island near the middle of the lake that is shaped like a star.

Hoover’s Star lake

Steve Donaldson and I drove down to Marion, Alabama in Perry County in Alabama’s historic cotton belt to ride 100 miles in a century organized by none other than Samford University. Steve is a fellow computer science professor at Samford. It’s hard to believe that I am teaching at a university where one of my co-workers totally into cycling and which would organize a century my first semester teaching! Below are some pictures from the ride.

First, a picture of my really bad sunburn after the ride.

There were several fields of flowers blooming in the early Spring.

Another field of yellow flowers.

This was one of the coolest things I’ve seen on a century – a bagpiper playing for the cyclists as we rode by the site of the original Alabama Baptist convention. This bagpiper is a Samford student who can be heard throughout the campus whenever he plays his bagpipes in the football stadium.

Here’s a view of some green hills on the ride.

And finally, here are two more from bike rides in Hoover.

First, here’s a sunset view looking from the top of the hill in our neighborhood. In the distance are the Vestavia Hills ridge and Shades Mountain.

Lastly, here is the view from atop Shades Mountain looking west at a Robert Trent Jones golf course.

Today, we had lunch with Grandma Locke. She’s in an assisted living center just down the road from Samford University, where Brian teaches. We join her for lunch every other week, but this is the first week we’ve eaten in the main dining room. Analise was the star of the room – gurgling and babbling, trying to pull the tablecloth off, gobbling up her veggie puffs and cheese, twice trying to steal a Chicken McNugget, and smiling all the while. Grandma is so proud to tell everyone Brian “teaches at the college” and let everyone “ooh” and “ahh” over her great-grandbaby, whom she insists looks just like her (see above).

As we were leaving, Grandma was walking us out and a friend of hers came up. “Are these your kinfolk?” she asked Grandma. I have to smile, even now. I don’t think I’ve ever been kinfolk before.

Adapting to this southern language is fun. I like “y’all” – in fact, having lived in Louisiana when I was younger, I even said it now and then before we moved here. But now, it makes me feel REAL southern. But there are several Southern-isms that I probably won’t find myself using. Among them: might could (“I might could do that for you, if you need me to.”), rekon (“I reckon it’s gonna rain today.”), and fixin’ (“I’m fixin’ to go to the store.”). My little girl may grow up with a southern drawl, but I’ve got to make sure she’s speaking good English or Grandma Sandy won’t be happy:) Growing up, I couldn’t even say “gonna” or “gotta”.

  

Now that you can make comments on my blogs, I need your input. Analise finally got a bow in her hair this weekend. Brian wasn’t so impressed, and neither was Uncle Matthew, but Grandma Beverly and I thought she looked cute. What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Photos: Top- Analise and Grandma Locke in January; 2nd- Standing tall for a picture. Analise loves to stand by herself these days. Won’t be long before she’s walking! 3rd- Vote for the bow:) Above- Analise has a way of finding things she wants to get into. This basket of shredded paper has been in our front room for a while, and she’s found it several times. I think her memory is improving, because now if she’s in the hallway, she heads in that direction.

Yeah! After just a quick evening of programming (and teaching me programming!) Brian updated the blog to include a comment section. Below, using the add comment link, you can enter your own tidbit that will be posted below my blog.
Feel free to point out how much you like the pictures, how deep my thoughts are, how cute my little girl is, etc, etc:) You can post other comments as well… those are just some suggestions if you are at a loss for words. I’m excited to see what y’all have to say about my musings:) One last suggestion… you could post how amazing my husband is for setting this up for me! I love him!

Just a quick glimpse of our weekend adventure… Brian, Analise and I went hiking in a trail that’s hidden right in the middle of a neighborhood near us. It was a beautiful trail, culminating in a pretty waterfall (this is the small part – it got bigger!). Analise loved the gurgling water. I think it reminded her of her bathtime, and she was ready to jump in. I’ll post some more pictures tomorrow, but I thought I’d reward all my diligent readers with a quick pretty picture. Hope you had a great weekend!

I got The Book of Proverbs in the Message translation in the mail as a gift this week. The introduction had an interesting thought that I’ve been pondering and wanted to share:

Wisdom has to do with becoming skillful in honoring our parents and raising our children, handling our money and conducting our lsexual lives, going to work and exercising leadership, using words well and treating friends kindly, eating and drinking healthily, cultivating emotions within ourselves and attitudes toward others that make for peace. Threaded through all of these items is the insistence that the way we think of and respond to God is the most practical thing we do. In matters of everday practicality, nothing, absolutely nothing, takes precedence over God.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
    
Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Just something to think about this weekend!

Ok, I just looked back in the blogs and noted that on April 1st I posted about My Little Sleep Fighter and how she’d slept for 3 nights straight (a couple sweet sleeping baby pics on that page, too). Well, since then, I don’t believe she’s slept through the night once. She’s been teething, and though I tried letting her fuss for a bit a couple of nights, she’ll just keep fussing. So I bring her to bed with us, nurse her, and take her back to bed. Several nights, she even woke up twice, which just WEARS me out for the day before it even begins.

I had to mention all that to put this in perspective: she slept all the way through the night last night! WOOHOO! From 8pm to 6:30 am and it felt so very good. She, too, is in better spirits, and I think the nights of waking had left her tired as well. I hope this continues… *fingers crossed*