It's another Saturday of Ryan home and Jenn at work, and that means it's another Daddy Day. These are only getting more fun because Lincoln is becoming more interactive. Right now he's down for his morning nap. He's not napping, I just said he's down. After showing all the signs of a little boy that needed a nap, I read him his story, he yawned all the way through it, then I laid him down without a fuss (he was quiet, too), and I left the room. He then proceeded to talk to himself for another 15 minutes.
He really needs his sleep today because he had a rough start to his night last night. Jenn and I went over to have dinner with our good friends, the Kiels. (You may recall the story of, "Hey, lady, put this in my car." If not, ask Jenn to tell you.) And because we didn't want to stay at their place for just 45 minutes, we decided to put Lincoln to bed there. He didn't do too bad, but it was different, and he didn't really get to a good sleep until around 8:30, at least 30 minutes later than he's usually asleep, and then he woke up and didn't know where he was, which took a few minutes out of his sleeping schedule to calm down. Given the new circumstances, though, he did a great job, especially for having such little naptime on Friday. When we pulled into the garage at home, he didn't wake up. Nor did he wake up when I got him out of the car. This is unusual because he's usually awake at these stages when he comes home from Grandpa Doug's house. He was a tired little boy.
The Gates family is gearing up for our trip to Nashville for Thanksgiving. It'll be our first visit to Auntie Em's and Uncle Jeremy's place. Jeremy's family will be there, too, so we'll have a fun new group to have Thanksgiving dinner with. Thanksgiving hasn't been a real consistent holiday for Jenn and I since we've been married. We've had dinner at Aunt MarySue's, the Parkinson's in Blacklick & in Powell, and even a fun deep-fried turkey at the Hammersmith's in 2005. At least they haven't all run together in our minds! So Emily, Mom and Jenn will be heading up the dinner this year, and we're looking forward to it. Lincoln ought to handle the trip well as we're overlapping our drive times with his sleeping time.
Speaking of Emily, she passed her last big test in her Masters program. Congratulations!!! She and Jeremy have both been accumulating the certificates lately, as Jeremy recently received his mortgage banker's license (I think that's the name of it). So good for the Hopwoods!
Back to Jenn, she's been quite frustrated with Lincoln's nursing lately. Sometimes he's good at it, and sometimes it's as if he's possessed, screaming and fussing irrationally. She's heard enough of the "that's how babies are" lately and some days it really gets to her. We know Lincoln's capable of nursing appropriately, but there seems to be no discernible pattern or clues as to why he's screaming when he's screaming. Be in prayer for Jenn and for Lincoln in this department.
Christmas is approaching. Friends of ours, who shall remain nameless, actually put their Christmas Tree up last night after we left their house. This would be an excellent time to talk about how it seems like the Christmas season, at least the consumer portion of the Christmas season, begins earlier and earlier every year. But I'd rather talk about something that Jenn and I have been talking about with each other lately. Gifts. To begin with, we've compiled quite a long "wish list" in the right-hand portion of this blog. This is for a couple of reasons:- For family members to look at for ideas before birthdays.
- To give a little insight into what Jenn and I are into. For instance, in the past I've listed a number of Canon lenses to indicate that I'm into pictures and (extremely amateur) photography. Another "for instance," you can see that at some point in our future we'd like to be driving a GMC Acadia and for Lincoln to attend the Naval Academy.
American consumerism is a daily mental struggle for Jenn and for me and it's something we talk about a lot with each other. Trimming unnecessary areas out of our lives is something that sounds great, but is difficult to do for a variety of reasons. We like our stuff, we like to get stuff, stuff is fun, etc. But there are better ways to spend our resources, both financially and spiritually. Putting this into practice is difficult. But difficulty is not an excuse. This is something that was re-enforced in Death By Suburb, the book that we covered in our Community Group back in April/May and that we're going through in our ABF. We don't live out the ideal, but it is something that we'd like to take meaningful steps towards on a consistent basis. To that end, one category of Christmas presents we'd like to receive this year can be found at World Vision's website. For instance, Shares of a Deep Well can be purchased; Seeds & Farming Tools for children in Africa are available; Two Chickens can provide eggs for a family; etc. The purpose is to meet real needs in areas of the world that don't have luxuries and who are in need of Jesus. By meeting physical needs, spiritual needs can follow. It's not as though Jenn and I have life figured out or even have half of the answers, but we believe that taking even small steps away from consumerism and towards a lifestyle of giving away is something for which we should strive. Don't mean to sound preachy, I only mean to give some insight into some thoughts and conversation that has been going on in the Gates home.
I just heard Lincoln stir, so it's time to sign off.
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