Citius, Altius, Fortius

Higher. Faster. Stronger.


Is anyone else ridiculously excited about the Olympics? I had forgotten how much I enjoy watching them until they began again last weekend. I think it's amazing that hundreds of countries (205 to be exact) are willing to put aside differences for a few weeks and come together to challenge themselves and celebrate the best athletes each country has to offer. Yes, it's a competition. But it's also an opportunity to find common ground.


We celebrated the opening ceremonies on Friday by having our own Olympic competition. He had five events:

Shotput 

(Yes, those are balloons)

100 inch dash 

(These were our decorated racers that went over a lemon that we had to "poke" across the table and back)

Javelin

(It's harder to throw a toothpick than you might think)

Boxing

(Okay, this was a stretch. Have you ever played the game where you have to wear ski gloves and try to open a candy bar with a spoon and knife? That's what we did. How is that boxing? There was a BOX of candy, and there were GLOVES involved. Told you it was a stretch. It was also one of those moments where Graham and I realized we had very different ideas of how a childhood game that "everybody knows" is supposed to work.)

and basketball...which I didn't get pictures of because I was trying to take care of Will and I forgot. Oops.

It was absolutely ridiculous, but so fun! I think it's going to have to be a tradition during the Olympics. Maybe next time I'll make medals and everyone can come up with a personal anthem that we can play if they win. Hmmm...possibilities.

Oh, and for extra fun, here's a recent picture of Will to finish the post.

 Why did I choose this picture, which is pretty mediocre photography? Because it's proof that Graham and I had to put him in a 9 month sleeper last week for the first time because he's growing like a weed! See...

 Love that boy!

Let the OLYMPICS begin!

I can do it MYSELF

I saw this video on Facebook today:

On monkey bars, girl sums up childhood in 20 seconds

Go watch it now. It's only 20 seconds after all.

MSN, who posted the video, entitled it "On Monkey Bars, Girl Sums Up Childhood in 20 Seconds." As I watched it, however, I couldn't help but think that this little girl's experience at the playground explains more than childhood; it sums up my entire relationship with my Heavenly Father (and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one).

So often, we say, "I don't need you" only to realize seconds later that we actually need the help of our eternal father desperately. Then, when He, in his infinite mercy, rushes to our aid, we shortly after dismiss His help and forget to acknowledge his hand in our lives and his all-knowing eye watching over us. The human, imperfect side of me says that maybe the Lord should just say, "Fine, you don't need me, huh? See what happens now!" and let us fall off the monkey bars. But the Lord is perfect...and loves perfectly. So he, like the father in the video, continues to stand nearby, ready to help whenever we call upon Him.

Oh, how I need Him. I CAN'T do it myself...and the beautiful truth is that I don't have to.

Two Month Birthday

Will turns two months old today! Part of me can't figure out how the past two months have gone by so fast, and the other part can't remember life without my little man. He had his two month check-up yesterday and he's growing well (although the doctor commented on how long his ears are...never heard that one before).

Here are his stats:

Height: 25 inches (above 95th percentile...so, really, he's off the chart)

Weight: 11 pounds 2 ounces (50th percentile)

Cuteness: Also off the charts

Will has learned a lot in the past two months. He decided a few weeks ago to start sleeping through the night, which is a HUGE blessing for his parents. I feel almost human again. He usually goes to bed between 10:00 and 11:00 and will sleep until 7:00 or 8:00. Wahoo! Ironically, he will NOT nap in his crib during the day for more than about five minutes. I think 20 was his record.


He'd rather hang out is in his bouncy chair, which is pretty much the best investment we made. Sometimes though, he kicks so much that he just about slides off the bottom of the chair...and then falls asleep. Whatever works, right?

He is also much more interactive and smiles in response to people now. I love when he first wakes up and smiles at me (until he realizes he hasn't eaten in nine hours and gets cranky).

He also gets really excited when Graham comes home from work and holds him. He LOVES play time with Daddy. Can't you tell?

He's experienced a lot of firsts this month: his first hike, first concert, and first parade. The biggest event this month for our little family is that we blessed Will on July 1 at church.

Thankfully, it was nothing like the dream that Graham had when I was pregnant. He dreamed that we were sitting in church with our new baby boy (p.s.-he had this dream before we knew the baby's gender), and we realized all of the sudden that we were supposed to bless him that day. The only problem was that we hadn't picked a name for him yet! We had a hushed discussion about it as the announcements were being read over the pulpit, but we couldn't decide. His dream ended as he was walking up to the front of the chapel, still not sure what we should name the baby. Good thing that in real life we were confident in Will's name, so all Graham had to worry about was whether Will would spit up all over him in the middle of the blessing. I am happy to report that he didn't. Instead, he just sat quietly (except for one kick in the face to Graham's dad) and looked adorable in his suit made by my mom.

So, life continues to be an adventure around here, but we're loving our little man and look forward to watching him continue to grow. Oh, and in other news...he'll get to spend his first Christmas in a HOUSE. We've decided to build a home and it will hopefully be done by the end of November. More on that later. For now, we're keeping cozy in our little apartment. Happy July!