My Latest Obsession

I recently discovered a website that sells the CUTEST cloth diapers ever. Just look at this diaper!

Not only do the diapers come in really fun colors, but the mother who makes them will custom embroider them (for an added fee, or course). Fortunately, the size that Adam wears now (Medium Long, he's a tall boy!) will likely fit him until potty training, thanks to the adjustable snaps.

Yes, they are pricey, but I'd like to order a few more for him. Karl thinks I'm a little crazy. I'm not arguing him about that. But just look at some of these cute combinations!


I'd especially like to order this diaper, and have "Ziggy the Zebra" embroidered on it. So cute!
Since we go through a lot of diapers each day, they should be cute, right? Help me convince myself here!

I'm not sure if I'm excited or scared

Daddy was proud of the way Adam was holding himself steady while holding Daddy's hands, so he decided to see if Adam could hold himself up on the couch.


The whole thing lasted less than thirty seconds. It was long enough for me to grab the camera and get some shots. It ended when Karl caught him just before falling into a little heap. Adam seems to be proud of himself.

A 2007 Retrospective

What a year this has been. On January 1, 2007, Karl and I lived by ourselves in row home in downtown Philadelphia. I was employed as a public school music teacher while writing my master's thesis. Karl was a full-time graduate student. Karl was planning on applying for jobs in several cities, but we had no idea where we might be living once the school year was over. We were hoping for a child, but would not discover that I was pregnant until the following day.

On January 2, I watched with delight as the line on my pregnancy test turned pink.

In February, we trekked down to DC for Karl's first job interviews.

Karl accepted a job offer in March. We began researching the real estate market in DC and talking to folks from our church who were interested in buying our Philadelphia home.

I spent most of April trying to complete my master's thesis. I don't remember many details about my topic anymore, but I do remember multiple technology failures, such as crazy margins in MS Word, countless printer failures, and flashdrive chaos. I didn't ask Karl about his memories from this month. I'm not sure if I want to make him relive the stress of being married to an irritable, fatigued, pregnant student.

In May, I marched in Temple's commencement ceremonies, finally completing the master's degree that I began working on in 2001.

June is sort of a blur. From what we can recall, we decided to forgo selling the house in Philadelphia in order to rent to our friends. We selected our home in DC and began the sometimes humorous, sometimes nauseating process of closing on that home. (The process included no less than 4 home appraisals, 3 mortgage companies, 2 mortgage brokers, 2 insurance policies, 2 price adjustments, and, as we like to say, "a partridge in a pear tree.")

We finally closed on the home in July. We moved in the same night and were delighted as friends from our new church helped us to settle in.

I spent most of August unpacking boxes and painting the nursery, while Karl studied the finer details of the federal tax code at his new job.

The Lord gave us Adam in September.

I don't need to recount the rest of the year to you, blog readers, since it is already recorded here.

So, as you can see, 2007 was a banner year. It reminds us very much of 2004, which is the year that we got engaged, got married, and bought our first home. The two intervening years have been wonderful, but relatively uneventful. Kind of like treading water.

It makes us wonder what 2010 will be like. We have been joking that perhaps we will buy a third home and have another child in that year? We certainly wouldn't mind two years of relatively uneventful living until then.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I don't normally listen to weather reports, and Wednesday was no exception. I was pleasantly surprised to ind this scene when I looked out our front door.


I bundled up Adam and walked to a neighbor's house for the afternoon. Adam did seem to take some exceptionally long looks at his surroundings. Maybe he did notice the snow. Hard to say.

I remember him looking much happier than this:
My friend had fun taking her baby daughter outside and looking in through a window at her Kenyan mother-in-law sitting snugly inside. Having never seen snow before, her mother-in-law was amazed at a little baby being outside in such weather, even in a snowsuit.

The snow lingered through Thursday Friday but was completely gone by Saturday. It was nice while it lasted. I didn't attempt to drive our car on Wednesday, but the roads were just fine on Thursday morning. I think we had about two inches of coverage in all.

So, dear readers from around the country, did you see any snow this week?

"Every Girls' Dream"...Every Parents' Nightmare

Today I was doing a grocery run at our local Wal-Mart. I remembered that I need a wreath hanger for the wreath I bought in Lancaster this weekend, so I ventured back to the holiday section.

On the way, I ran into this:
Yes, it is a life-sized pony. And better yet, it blinks, neighs, and swishes its tail just like a real pony.

It was set up right in the middle of the store. Parents cannot avoid walking by it if they need anything Christmas related.

There was a small crowd of toddlers gaping at the pony, who was politely neighing at his admirers. The parents looked a little less enthusiastic. The Wal-Mart managers, shrewed as they are, had posted a sign next to the equine which read "Do not get on the pony."

So what's the price to bring this guy home and ride him? $249.99, plus tax.

I'm so glad we have a boy.