The Son of a Preacher Man

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Pax has started to go into the worship service with us for awhile on Sunday mornings. A month or so ago, he asked if he could come with us, and I am cherishing this precious opportunity to worship as a family and teach him about praising God in community. I know he doesn't "get it" yet, but I can't express in words how much I am enjoying the process. A few months ago, we started teaching him the Our Father (Lord's Prayer) and started singing the Doxology from our worship service as a part of our nightly prayers so they'd be familiar to him. He loves these new prayers and it's so sweet to hear his little voice repeating the familiar words. It's refreshing to experience worship from his perspective, too. For example, the choir wears "purple dresses" and the ministers "wash" those babies' heads sometimes.

Pax likes seeing Travis lead worship, he's been known to say loudly enough that our pew neighbors can hear, "What's daddy doing up there?" But he likes it best when Travis sits with us. Last week while eating breakfast before church he told me, "I hope my daddy sits with me at church today." Sorry for him that Travis was "on." The tough life of a preacher's kid.

Once a few weeks ago when Travis was "on," Pax watched with interest as his daddy accepted the offering plates from the ushers, faced the altar, and lifted them up toward the cross. When we got home and were playing in the playroom, Pax dumped his cars out of one of the baskets, collected a few coins he found on a table, walked around to the other side of our big ottoman, and lifted his basket up. I wonder where he got that idea.

Pax officially started Sunday school a few weeks ago. He's so proud to get to go. He asks me each week, "Mommy, how old am I?" because he knows that two-year-olds get to go to Sunday school or "Mommy, what day is today?" because he knows that he goes to Sunday school on... well, Sunday-- guess that's not much of a leap, but I'm glad he's excited about it regardless!

A friend was speaking about her son being in children's choir this week and she said, "He needs those songs and words deep, deep in his heart, so that he can draw on them later." That thought stuck with me, and while Pax is too young to participate in the children's choir program at our church, we sing a lot from all sorts of genres around here. I've sucked up every bit of Pax's eagerness to learn "new alleluia songs." We've been teaching him parts of the Catholic mass and refrains from hymns and praise songs. As summer storms have awakened him in the middle of the night recently, he's requested that one of us lay with him and sing those songs to him. I hope those words will be comforting to him when he needs to draw on them later in life as well.

The last two weeks, we've sung a line from Psalm 46:10 "Be still, be still, know that I am God!" It's simple enough that Pax has picked up on it and sung along with the congregation without me explicitly teaching it to him. He came home from church this week singing it. The other day he was singing it particularly loudly into a yardstick microphone:

Pax: BE STILL! BE STILL! KNOW THAT I AM DOD (God)!
Me: That's what God says to us.
Pax: Does He use a microphone like this one? Holding the yard stick out.

I don't know, Paxon, but I pray you will hear His voice in your life and that these seeds we plant today will grow as you do.

Livin' Large

Paxon kicks off his second year at his preschool next week. Parents' meeting last week, meet and greet with the teachers today. He loves it and is so excited to be headed back. Last week, one of the families in our new class had Pax and a few other classmates over to meet each other and play together before the school year starts.

The hosting family's daughter is named Lindsay Large. Because we have a couple of Lindsays in our life, I usually refer to this one by her first and last name... Lindsay Large. Pax had a really good time playing and as we were leaving this conversation occurred:

Pax: Mommy, I don't want to go.
Me: I know. Was it fun to play with Lindsay Large today?
Pax: Yeah. Long pause and perplexed look. Mommy, I thought she'd be... bigger.

Times are changin'

Yesterday, Pax asked me if we could change his sheets to the other set that I have for his bed. I told him that no, we would change them another day. His sheets were clean and Asher was needing to be fed. No, we weren't changing sheets right then for no reason. I intentionally decided not to say anything about having to change them if he tee-teed on them... why give a kid any ideas, right?

Flashback 28 years or so... I LOVED to change my clothes as a little girl. I have memory of going into my sister's dresser and putting on some of her clothes just because it was fun to wear something different. I'm still kinda like that today. I love to borrow someone else's clothes and I still change my clothes sometimes without reason. To prevent the laundry from taking over our home, my mom put a limit to my clothes changing in the day: Pick and outfit and stay in it. I was potty trained at the time, but I quickly discovered that if you pee on your clothes, you can change them... multiple times a day if desired. I'm sure you can imagine how that went over.

Pax is REALLY close to being officially potty trained. He hasn't had an accident in a couple of weeks. We've got a hurdle or two to get over, but we're almost there. I usually keep him in a diaper or pull up overnight , just in case. Last night, he was insistent that he was ready to wear underwear overnight. And truly, he's probably right. He's almost always dry when he wakes up. I liked his desire for independence and I indulged it.

This morning... 6:30 a.m. Pax came into the room and said, "Mommy, I'm wet." I was surprised, but accidents happen, so I hopped up to go help get him in dry clothes and get the sheets into the washing machine. My feet had hardly touched the floor when he said, "Can we get my other sheets now?" It takes one to know one...he quickly fessed up (without my prodding) that he tee-teed ON PURPOSE after he woke up in order to get his other sheets.

I can hear my mom laughing as she reads this... Damn that karma.

That's NOT right!

To follow the lead of a dear friend, I'll warn you that this post is about breastfeeding... not like the technical aspects of how it happens, more of the comical aspects of breastfeeding with a verbal and curious two-year-old watching, but if you're uncomfortable with talking about my nipples, then I suggest you skip this post altogether.

Breastfeeding was an easy choice for me, almost not even a choice. I just knew it was what I was going to do and I was going to make it work. Thankfully, it was something that came easily to me and to both boys right off the bat. Nursing is infinitely more interesting and challenging this time around because I am rarely alone. Asher has yet to spread out his feedings so he eats about every 1.5 to 2 hours during the day... it's pretty hard to fit in a time to even pump a bottle in between, so my nursing cover is my uniform and needless to say, I spend a fair amount of my time in various locations with baby on boob. I really love the snuggly intimacy of nursing a baby and Pax has been a great sport . He's been so helpful and he's getting the hang of what I can and can't do while nursing. Read a book? Yes. Drive cars? Yes. Climb to the back of the car in order to get a toy tossed behind the carseat? Um... maybe, but I'm not sure I'm willing to try it.

Shortly after arriving home from the hospital, Asher needed to eat. I began feeding him and Pax watched with concerned interest. I decided just to let it play itself out. After a minute or two, Pax finally piped up.
Pax: Mommy, what he doing?
Me: He's drinking milk.
Pax: Mommy, that baby is... CHOMPING you. (With a concerned and slightly disgusted look on his face.) That's NOT right.

My nursing cover is with me almost always. Pax likes to put it on backwards and wear it as a cape. I keep trying to decide what his superhero name should be wearing a nursing cover. When I was nursing without the cover at home the other day, Pax suggested that I cover the baby up. I guess he doesn't realize I'm not being discrete about the baby.

I was pumping in front of Pax the other day and he told me that the breast pump was saying "Build it". I almost choked on my water I laughed so hard, but I have to agree. The breast pump talks. Call me crazy, but when I began pumping for Paxon two years ago, I swore that the pump said "Mee-ilk! Mee-ilk! Mee-ilk!" I didn't mention it to anyone until I read this several months after I'd heard it. This time around, I've really not noticed, but next time I pump I'll be listening for "Build It!"

Just this week as I was nursing Asher, Pax came over and snuggled up to me. He then stealthily slipped his hand INTO my bra and suggested that perhaps he could try the other side. He didn't seem surprised at all when I declined. Poor kiddo, it did make me realize that he's missing being the center of my attention and affection when we're at home during the day together.

My favorite quote of the week came last night as I nursed Asher. Pax, looking quite solemn, asked me if my "boobies" were gone yet. I must have had a puzzled look on my face as I was trying to decide how to respond that with my body type, I've never really had "boobies" and that yes, they will shrivel back into nothingness after I stop nursing Asher, and why was he asking anyway, but he quickly rephrased to ask if Asher had drunk all the milk, and thus, we could go outside. Ahhh... yes, Paxon, we can go outside. Good thing I paused.

Brothers

It's pretty awesome to have a brother. I can say that because I have a good one.

Pax seems to really like being a big brother to Asher and he's been quite helpful and funny in his new role.

A few Pax-isms:

umbilical cord = green pee pee

Pax ran over as I was changing Asher today, grabbed a diaper out and handed it to me. I said, "thanks." He looked up and said, "I'm just doing my job, mom."

Pax refers to Asher as "little buddy" though we don't call him that. "Hey, little buddy, I'm your big brother."

Pax has "conversations" between his cars and trucks related to being a big brother, having a new baby, etc. It's funny to see how he's working it all out. One car told another, "Your baby's gonna be here a yong, yong (long) time." Another car introduced itself as "a big brother."



The first week we had Asher at home, we asked Pax, "Do you like your new brother?" His enthusiastic response, "I LOVE him!" It's great to have a brother!

Hadababy Itsaboy

We're proud to welcome Clayton "Asher" to our family. Born May 10, he weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz and 20.5 inches. Clayton is a family name-- the last name of Trav's grandmother and her 4 sisters. All of them married and none of them passed the "Clayton" name on. "Asher" means happy or blessed. He's a champion eater and had already gained almost a pound over his birth weight by his 2 week appointment. Already, we can't imagine life without him. Yes, he looks like his brother and his daddy, but he's a momma's boy!

My #1

Travis has taken interest in bike riding. His best friend Jacob encouraged him to start riding and now they ride as often as their schedules and weather allow. Before Asher was born, Travis had asked me about riding the Tour de Cure which is a fundraising race benefitting the fight against diabetes. Travis has been fighting type 1 diabetes since he was 15, so this was very personal to him. He'd wanted to do for a long time, but with the arrival of Asher just last week, we didn't know if it would really be feasible. After settling in a bit, we decided we could all handle it. So Thursday night, he and Jacob signed up and began their fundraising efforts. In just two days, they raised over $1000 together AND they came in FIRST in their division (50k)!

One "benefit" to being a diabetic-- you get a cool red jersey when you ride. Here's my #1 after the race (check out those awesome shorts!).

Always trying to be like Daddy, Pax wanted to put on his red shirt and ride his bike, too!

Happy Mother's Day!

The two best moms I know.

GiGi with her grandkids-- 3 boys and a big belly-- pure joy!

My mother's day gift arrived just a little late... 6:03 a.m. Monday. Welcome Clayton "Asher!" Thanks for making me a mom again! I always imagined myself a mom of boys... and now I am!

The Lord said to Noah, "There's Gonna be a Floody-Floody!"

Get those animals, out of the muddy-muddy, Children of the Lord!

We've been experiencing some interesting weather here in Middle TN this weekend. While we've had some flooding in our neighborhood and yard, our family and our belongings have not sustained any damage. Unfortunately, many of our neighbors and friends in neighborhoods close-by have not been as fortunate. This shows some rescues from our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. In the Nashville area, there have literally been buildings floating down interstates. Words and pictures can't quite describe it, but here are a few pictures from our yard...




Click here to view photos

Here are a few videos I took earlier-- not stellar quality, but it gives you an idea of the rushing water on both sides of our home.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
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The Chattanooga Choo Choo...

Our last little get away before Baby G's arrival was a quick trip to Chattanooga.

He's a little young for white water rafting this time, but thanks the the Children's Discovery Museum, he'll be ready when he's older!


Unexpected free fun-- playing in the fountains in the park... now if only we'd brought a change of clothes...


Ok, so taking a two year old on a swinging rope bridge is probably as scary for him as it was for his parents... maybe we'll try the stone bridge next time!


This kind of fun is more our style.



Raise the roof? Or hold it up? Either way, we got to See Rock City!


You can't read the sign by my head very well, but it says "Fat Man's Squeeze." I'll have you know, I squeezed just fine!


Pax's favorite part of the Tennessee Aquarium.


Even through glass, it's intimidating to see a shark swim by your family...


My favorite flowers and my favorite little blond guy-- glad we got to spend some special time before we grow into a family of 4!

Daddy's Hooker

For his birthday, my parents got Travis a bike rack to carry his bike on the back of the car. Paxon was totally into the process of assembling it and attaching it to the car. He wanted to know all about it and what it did. Travis patiently explained that it was something that went on the car that he could hook his bike on and drive it somewhere different to ride. He even got out his bike (and Paxon's tricycle) and hooked them on the bike rack to show Pax how it worked.

Pax, very excited about the new equipment, responded, "Daddy, I like your hooker!" Not to worry, though, I am not in the dark about this situation...Paxon came in the house and told me all about "Daddy's hooker." Let's hope this one doesn't come up at preschool...

Onomatopoeia

The other day while traveling in the car, we were enjoying the dance party remix of "The Ants Go Marching." (If you don't have kids, you are thinking, "Never never will I listen to that" and if you do have kids, you are probably thinking, "Oh yes! I know that one!"). In this version, the song revs up for each new verse with the words "crash-boom-bang!" Pax thinks this is very funny and kept asking "what that mean?" after that part of the song. Apparently, my initial answers were insufficient for our inquisitive child. He kept asking me about it over and over, so with a bit of sarcasm, I finally switched my answer and explained that those words were onomatopoeias and gave a brief explanation of other words that qualified as onomatopoeias (e.g., Moo, Pow!, etc.) as well as other words that don't really qualify (e.g., floor, tree, mailbox). I thought this might at least distract him and we could move on.

Well...Paxon LOVED the word "onomatopoeia" and talked about it the rest of the way home. I didn't think he really got the concept, just a fun new word to say. Besides, teaching metalinguistics to our two-year-old is not really on the priority list no matter how precocious he is. A few days later, we were walking out the garage door and as I pulled it shut quickly, I said, "BANG!" Pax promptly turned around to me and said, "Mommy, that an onomatopoeia!" He then went on to name several others: crash! Oink oink! Pop!

And it occurred to me again it has so frequently lately... he is such the little sponge right now and is absorbing so much of what we say (and do) lately...SLURP!

You Must Mean Someone Else

Conversation between Pax and me in the kitchen just now as we discussed becoming a big brother and our family.

Pax: You a big sister, mommy?

Me: Yes. I am a big sister. Uncle Jeff is my little brother.

Pax: Who your sister, mommy?

Me: Aunt...

Pax: Jayna?

Me: Well, no, Aunt-

Pax: -Jen!

Me: Yes! You got it, kiddo.

Pax: Who your mommy, mommy?

Me: GiGi.

Pax: You must be talking 'bout a different GiGi. GiGi (is) my GiGi.

Thanks for sharing Pax. She'd probably agree with you.

Indian-ah-polis

Our kid loves to go some place, so March was a good month for him. We visited family in Indianapolis or "Indian-ah-polis" as Pax calls it. Of course, a trip to Indy isn't complete for us without a visit to the children's museum. It's a great one if you are ever in the area. There happened to be a Bob the Builder exhibit this spring at the museum, so Pax stayed busy with his tools all morning.

Ok, admittedly, here I'm just playing with the effects on my camera. Do you think it's the camera or that mirror that makes my stomach look fat?

We also got to visit with Travis's cousins Jason and Amy and their cutie pie Nick. Last time we saw him he was only weeks old. This time, he gave Pax more of a run for his money sharing toys.

Which leads us to the real reason we were there, Travis's cousin Matt married a lovely Indianapolis bride Lauren. Now we have even more family to visit when we are in the area!

Travis and Pax with the Garner aunts

The Bigger House at Gallatin-burg

Three years ago, my dad's side of the family rented a big house in Gatlinburg and gathered to celebrate my Grandmother's 80th birthday. Travis and I planned a trivia game "about Grandma and her life" with one of the final bonus questions being, "How many great-grandchildren does Grandma have?" and only my savvy siblings figured out that we were announcing our pregnancy with Pax. This year, we gathered to celebrate Grandma again, with 4 more great-grandkids in tow than last time. I can hardly remember our family without these little ones with us!

When I told Paxon that we were going on a trip, he of course wanted all the details. He was so excited about all of us staying in a BIG house together and referred to the location of the big house as "Gallatin-burg" all weekend. 27 people in one house for 4 days could spell disaster in some families, but I'd say as for me and my house, we had a great time!

Who's excited about the mountains?

Posing with the family

How cute are these guys?

Have any of you played Wii Dance? I'm not much on video games, but this one is totally worth the wasted time. Note that the Girten blood line is participating...while our spouses giggle about being related only by marriage.

Gone, but not forgotten

I haven't forgotten about this blog. Just have had a couple of busy weeks with our project. It's a very different kind of interesting than my usual funny stories about Pax and our family, but feel free to check out what we've been up to the last week or so on our other blog: www.fivetofivethousand.wordpress.com.

I promise to come back here soon with pictures and funny stories... we've got a ton to share!

Monkeys

Paxon has been a monkey lately. As in monkey see, monkey do.

The other night I was brushing my teeth while he "brushed" his in his bathroom. I noticed him watching me, then tilting his head to the side at a funny angle. Then, I caught my reflection in the mirror and realized I was doing the same thing.

We've had an influx of ladybugs on the south side of our house. This is a story for another time, but if you have suggestions to get rid of them, I'm all ears. I've been sucking them up with the vacuum. Pax has been very into this process and has been helping me hunt them. Instead of dragging the vacuum in and out of the laundry room closet each time I need it (which is 40x daily), I just stashed in temporarily behind the curtain in the kitchen. When I got home on Sunday afternoon, Pax was napping, but I found his "vacuum" stashed on the other side of the window behind the curtain.

Today, Travis was working on his bike. He flipped his bike over onto the seat and handlebars and got out his box of wrenches. Pax wanted his "bike" out too, so we opened the garage door and got his tricycle out. A moment later, I heard a crash and saw that Pax had intentionally pushed his bike over in order to work on it like daddy. He even had to go inside to get his tools "yike Daddy."