Londt.com Musings

Abby:

Joey:

Lizzy:

For more pictures, see the following new albums:
-March
-Joey’s 2-Year Portraits

I wish you could have seen Joey’s face last Thursday as we gathered around him first thing in the morning to sing “Happy Birthday”. He was grinning literally from ear to ear! And that was just the first of many such songs to be sung in his honor during a fun-filled birthday weekend!

Joey’s first party was at our babysitter’s house during lunch last Thursday. I went over to take pictures and help out with the cupcakes, etc. It turns out that Joey isn’t one to crave the limelight, and opening gifts is still somewhat of a foreign concept to him, but thankfully the older kids “helped” him along quite a bit. He really perked up when Miss LaLa gave him a bright red and yellow Superman basketball! Apparently her daughter, Allecia had won it at Six Flags last fall, and every day Joey would try to go in to Allecia’s room and play with it. Allecia was such a sweetheart to give her basketball to Joey for his birthday–it sure made his day!

Joe and I took the day off Friday so we could spend some time with Joey and also get ready for his party on Saturday. We took the girls to the sitter and then had a special breakfast with Joey at our favorite pancake restaurant. In the early afternoon, we took him to the doctor for his 2-year well check (and shots). Fortunately, the sting of the shots quickly faded when Joey realized that he had a special visitor–Granny Susan had flown in for the birthday party!

Joey’s party was a huge success–the theme was “Let’s have a ball”, and our gift to Joey was a ball pit (tent) filled with 300 plastic balls. The kids had a blast playing in the ball pit, and as a bonus, the Lord blessed us with a gorgeous sunny and 60-degree day, so the kids also got to play outside during the party. We had lots of ball-themed party foods including meatballs, a cheeseball, Whoppers, and melon balls. I made brightly-colored cupcakes with sports ball candy-toppers to go with the theme. Joey had a great time, and rumor has it that he may have actually eaten four entire cupcakes during the course of the party (without my knowledge, of course). Oops. Well, he only turns 2 once, right?

For the full album, please click here.

Thursday morning we woke up to two inches of snow on the ground, and we thought–how awesome is that–it snowed again!! The weather “officials” had predicted snow, but we didn’t believe them. It turns out they were right–and they were predicting even more! The snow continued steadily all day and as soon as we could get off work Thursday afternoon, my sisters and I met at local park with lots of hills and let the kids go sledding. We wanted to take advantage of the snow before it all melted! Little did we know that we would be in for almost a foot of snow (more in some places) before it was all said and done. I think the adults had more fun than the kids, and the babies ended up staying in the car with Grandma and Grandpa.

On Friday morning, we woke up to 10 inches in our backyard alone! Joe’s class he was teaching had been canceled, so he stayed home with the kids. Mid-morning we bundled them up for more snow fun, and it was quite an experience for them! Abby could hardly walk through it, and Joey pretty much just stood still, as the snow was up past his knees! They had fun playing in the snow, but they didn’t last long before they got too cold, so we all came back inside. Friday afternoon, we decided to go back to the park with the Fords for more sledding. By this time the snow was melting, but it there was still plenty for playing and sledding.

Today, (Saturday) there is still a good six or seven inches on the ground, and if our kids were a little older, I think they would be begging us to go play in it. This is such an anomoly for Texas, not only the amount of snow, but the fact that it stuck around for more than a day! And of course I had to take lots of video and pictures to capture this unusual winter event, because I have a feeling the kids won’t remember this when they’re older!

Check out the snow album here.

Last weekend, Joe escorted Abby to our city’s 19th annual Daddy Daughter Valentine’s dance. Although this is a long-standing tradition in NRH, (and one that Joe has been looking forward to for several years), we had to wait until Abby reached the minimum age of three before they could attend.

Like most three-year olds, Abby has no real concept of Valentine’s Day, and she has never been to a formal dance before. When I first mentioned the dance to her, however, her eyes lit up and she was grinning from ear to ear. All I had to do was tell her that she would get to dress up in a pretty pink dress, and she was sold! A few days before the big event, however, I noticed she wasn’t quite as excited. On several occasions, in fact, she would tell me outright that she did not want to go to the dance. This was quite a change from her first reaction, so I just chalked it up to a 3-year old power struggle, and I ignored her comments.

The night before the dance, Abby and I were the last ones up, and she mentioned to me again that she didn’t want to go to the dance. I started questioning her about this, but she couldn’t tell me why she didn’t want to go, but she just insisted that she didn’t want to. I quickly changed the subject and just rocked her in the chair in the living room. Then she asked if I would read her a book, but since I had already turned out the lights, I told her I would tell her a story instead. The story went something like this:

“Once upon a time there was a little girl named Addy (clever, I know–give me a break, I was exhausted!). Addy was so excited because she and her daddy were going to go to a special Valentine’s dance just for daddy’s and daughters. Addy had a beautiful new dress and matching shoes, and she could hardly wait for the big day. But then all of a sudden, Addy became a little frightened. She had never been to a dance before, and she didn’t know what to expect. Her mommy tried to tell her that it would be fun, but she wasn’t so sure she wanted to go anymore….”

You get the picture. In the end, Addy overcomes her fear and ends up going to the dance and having a wonderful time. I kept waiting for Abby to laugh at me, because the story was so plainly and obviously parallel to her own situation. But she never laughed. On the contrary, she was absolutely riveted by my tale and she hung on every word. When I was done, we said our prayers and we both went to bed.

The next morning, much to my amazement, Abby woke up with a renewed excitement about the dance! She told me that she was going to the Daddy Daughter Dance just like Addy! Hilarious! I don’t know what I did right that night, but I will give God all the glory, because He obviously used that story to calm her fears and help her to get through any anxiety she might have been having. I am also grateful that the Lord helped me recognize those fears in her instead of just dismissing her negative comments like I had earlier in the week. It’s amazing that it took me so long to figure it out, too, since I am the exact same way! I am almost always anxious about new experiences, even fun ones!

Anyway, the night went off without a hitch, and based on the multiple accounts I heard from Abby afterwards, it sounded like she had a great time! Besides enjoying all the little girls in pretty dresses, Abby was most impressed by the fact that she got to drink fire-engine red punch from a big girl cup! Funny kid. And according to Joe, she couldn’t stop talking about Addy the whole night!

Click here to see the full album

I realize that it’s been quite a while since either of us has posted an update on Joe’s job situation. In fact, as I look back, I realize that we have not really posted a job update of any kind–at least not via the blog. There are lots of reasons for the silence (shame, humiliation, and depression come to mind), but overall I think this is one of those situations where no news was simply that: no news. It is much easier to recount anecdotes regarding pregnancy, the kids and a million other happy subjects rather than pick away at scabs that are still undergoing the healing process. Joe and I have each (separately) started drafts of job-related blogs, but in the end they served more as cathartic exercises that remained unpublished. So, without further ado, here is a long-overdue update on Joe’s job situation.

Since his initial layoff in November 2008 (GASP!), Joe has endured months upon months of dead-end leads, hiring freezes, rejections, and worst of all, just plain silence from potential employers. I can count on one hand the number of interviews he was called to, and none of those positions were even remotely close to matching his skill set. Anyone who has experienced a job loss or a lengthy job search can appreciate the range of emotions Joe has been experiencing through all this. Spiritually, this has been a growing experience for both of us (more on that below), but from the world’s perspective, the external situation has not really changed. While the economy might be recovering, it would seem that jobs in architecture are not.

Last fall, my sister, Joy came to Joe with a temporary, but immediate opportunity for contract work with GEBCO (my dad’s environmental training company) as a guest instructor. Joe had taught for GEBCO when we were first married, and although he was rusty on the material, it was an opportunity he could not pass up. At first, the classes were few and far between, but Joy, who is managing my dad’s company, anticipated a huge demand for classes in early 2010. She wanted to get Joe on board and re-trained as quickly as possible so she could put him to work when the tsunami of classes hit. Sure enough, by January she was able to guarantee him at least two days a week, and now it looks as though he will be teaching classes for almost the entire month of February and well into March and April. We praise the Lord for this amazing provision!

In the meantime, Joe continues to send out resumes to the void (i.e. local architecture firms), with the hope that eventually he might be able to secure a more permanent position in architecture or at least something more closely related to it. From our perspective, it does not seem that he is any closer to accomplishing that than he was on Election Day, 2008, but at least we now have a direction (and some extra income) for the immediate future. While it is still too early to perform a proper “post-mortem” of this difficult chapter in our lives (after all, it’s not exactly over yet!), we can already see the blessings that are coming out of this trial. The most obvious to me is that the Lord has given us an unforgettable picture of His faithfulness. No matter how difficult our circumstances are or even how badly we handle them at times, our heavenly Father promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. This verse is found in Hebrews Chapter 13, verses 5-6:

5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
6So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”

We have witnessed this truth personally over the past 15 months, and our lives are a testimony to the Lord’s unending mercy and grace. Not only has He protected my job during extremely turbulent times, but He continues to provide additional income through GEBCO and various other means. We give God all the glory for this, and we recognize now more than ever just how little control we really have in the first place! While Joe’s future career path is still largely a mystery to us, we can rest in our knowledge that God is faithful. As long as we continue to seek the Lord first, we can trust Him to take care of the details. (Matthew 6:33)

This past weekend marked Lizzy’s half birthday. She is still in the 90th percentile for length, but she isn’t packing on the weight quite as quickly anymore. She weighed in at 16 pounds and some change, which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. A few weeks ago we started her on rice cereal, and she seemed to enjoy that for a change of pace. She is currently suffering from an infected left ear, however, so her appetite isn’t what it used to be. She must be getting what she needs, though, because she is consistently sleeping through the night these days.

Lizzy is now able to sit up when we place her on her bottom, but she has not yet perfected her method of returning to a horizontal position. She can sit for several minutes at a time, but when she begins to tire, she rocks herself back and forth until she topples over into a pile on the floor. She is also spending a lot of time on her tummy these days. It is not uncommon for her to scoot herself backwards from the center of the living room floor and wind up with her feet buried under the sofa. All these signs point to one thing: mobility!

We took Lizzy in for her six-month portraits at Target this week, and they turned out really well. Even with a sore ear, she was extremely smiley and cooperative. I’ll be sure to scan and post them as soon as they are available (or at least that is the hope, right?) In the meantime, I have included a few choice shots below, or you can check out the full January album for more pictures. Enjoy!

By Texas standards, we’ve had a pretty cold winter so far this year. And it has not been just a cold snap, either–we’re talking sustained cold temperatures. Consequently, Joe and I have not had a full night of sleep in at least four weeks. Allow me to explain.

It’s no secret that we keep our house cool in the winter. When we first bought the house, Joe insisted that we keep the thermostat around 65 or 66 in the winter, as he reasoned that we could always throw on an extra layer of clothing or pile on another blanket, and it definitely saves us money on our electric bill. I grew up with an equally thrifty father, so it wasn’t too difficult to adjust.

When the babies started coming, however, we admitted that 65 is simply too cold for tiny fingers and toes, so we bumped up the thermostat to a more kid-friendly 68 degrees. This has served us well for the past three years until now. When we moved Joey into his toddler bed last fall (in the guest room), we realized two things. First, that particular room is not well ventilated. It is colder than the rest of the house in the winter, and hotter than the rest of the house in the summer. Second, the toddler bed is only inches from the floor (read: colder) as compared to the raised crib he had become accustomed to sleeping in. Consquently, Jack Frost came nipping at his nose (and toes) around midnight each night, causing him to wake up in search of warmer surroundings (i.e., mommy and daddy’s bed!).

Like clockwork, we are awakened in the wee hours of each night by the sound of a groggy Joey stirring, crying, then dragging his blanky down the hall and into our bedroom. The first few times he did this, we tried putting him back in bed, but he inevitably returned so it just seemed easier to hoist him into our bed and let him snuggle up beside us under the down comforter and assorted quilts. While this sounds like a harmless exercise, you must remember that toddlers are anything but friendly bedmates. Joey would inevitably sidle right up beside one of us and proceed to kick, punch, and steam-roll us all night long making for a less than restful night of sleep. In the past few weeks, this situation has been compounded by interruptions in our routine due to travel, illness, teething, and you-name-it. Lizzy and Abby have each had their share of nighttime wakings of late, and there have been more mornings than I’d like to count where Joe and I wake up gripping our respective sides of the bed with our toenails, whilst three adorable but restless children occupy the space between us. Needless to say, we are lacking quite a bit of that precious but illusive thing we call sleep.

The good news is that temperatures are on the rise in north Texas, and as a result Joey has slept all night in his bed for two nights in a row! Woo-hoo! This coming week’s weather forecast is favorable, too, so if we can just keep everyone healthy and well-fed, maybe, just MAYBE we’ll get one of those full nights of sleep yet!

When I think of the Christmas season, I tend to think of the huge build up to Christmas day: putting up the Christmas tree, baking cookies, attending Christmas parties, shopping for gifts, etc. But once the last gift is opened on December 25th, the season typically stops short. This year was much different. This is probably the first year in my life that I can actually say I celebrated the 12 days of Christmas (more or less).

Our holiday plans this year included a road trip to Indiana for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. We spent the better part of Christmas week trying to get everything ready for Christmas both here and up north. Christmas Eve started off a bit rocky: the weather was getting bad in DFW, our kitchen sink was backing up, and Joe had to spend the morning at our mechanic’s for an emergency brake job on the van. Thankfully, they were able to repair the brakes quickly, and Joe was home by noon to fix the sink (a little plunging and boiling water did the trick!). The rainy weather turned into snow as temperatures steadily dropped throughout the day. Weather reports indicated that road conditions were getting worse throughout our entire route to Indiana (Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois). We began to consider taking an alternate route (through Arkansas) to avoid problems.

By evening, all of North Texas was covered in snow, and road conditions were questionable. We decided to take our chances and make our way to church for Christmas Eve service. The drive was certainly slow, but not too dangerous. Thankfully, we made it there and back without any problems.

On Christmas morning, the kids woke up to a winter wonderland! I have lived in Texas all my life, and I don’t ever remember having a white Christmas quite like this was. We started the day with a birthday party for Jesus, followed by breakfast and gifts. Abby’s favorite gift was a pink ballet leotard (which she promptly put on and would not part with the entire day), and Joey’s favorite gift was a Nerf basketball set. We let the kids play with their toys for an hour or so, and then it was time to head to Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Keller for Christmas with Heidi’s family. We were planning to leave for Indiana later that night directly from the Kirch Homestead.

Joe had expertly packed the van the night before, so we just had a few last-minute things to do before leaving. As soon as we arrived at Grandma’s, the kids wanted to play in the snow. This was the best Christmas gift ever! All of the kids (and most of the adults) had a blast building snowmen, throwing snowballs, and making snow angels on this cold, but sunny Christmas day. After the snow festivities ended, we all came inside for dinner and gifts. Joe and I tried to take a nap in the late afternoon to prepare for our all-night driving marathon. By 8:30pm, the kids were tired, and we were ready to set out for our big road trip.

The drive was long, but uneventful. The kids slept soundly ’til morning, and we stopped at a McDonald’s in Illinois, for breakfast. After a quick meal, we had just a few more hours in the van, and then we met Joe’s immediate family for a late lunch in Anderson, Indiana. After lunch, we got back in the van for another two-hour drive to Albion where we set up base camp for a few days at Joe’s maternal grandparent’s house. We were met by more snow, lots of helping hands, and a warm meal. We spent the next three days in Albion, enjoying the traditional white-elephant-style gift exchange, five-generation family pictures with Patriarch Albert Pyle (97 and counting), and working with Joe’s Mom, Susan, on a documentary film detailing Her brother Pat’s House. On Tuesday we headed to Fort Wayne for a holiday celebration with extended family on Joe’s dad’s side. For the first time in almost a decade, all of Grandma Dorothy Londt’s grandchildren were present [save for Cousin John and wife Amber, who were caring for their one-year-old son Oliver, at home in Wisconsin]. So, 8 of 9 grandchildren, and 8 of 9 Great-grandchildren had the opportunty to enjoy time with Dorothy, and rekindle relationships at the Wegenka’s house. Tuesday night we drove back to Muncie, where we spent the remainder of our trip with Joe’s sister and brother-in-law, Kelly and Aaron, and their three sweet kids. We had fun in the snow that continued to fall, relaxed by Aaron’s impressive livingroom fire, and enjoyed yet another Christmas celebration with Joe’s immediate family on New Year’s Eve. On Friday night we headed home, this time, by way of our usual route through Illinois, Missouri, & Oklahoma.

The kids did amazingly well considering all the traveling, scenery changes, and activities, and they definitely had a great time playing with their cousins. We are all exhausted from the trip, but it is a good exhaustion! And now we have all of January to recover. Fortunately, we have yet to see any serious illnesses from any part of the trip. Praise God!!

You can view pictures from our trip in the Photo Galler under Christmas in Texas and Christmas in Indiana.

Oh, and Happy 2010, ya’ll!

Another busy Christmas season is quickly waning, with Christmas a mere three days a way. We bought an Advent calendar for the kids this year, and it’s amazing how marking time on a calendar makes it fly that much faster!

Today is my last day of work until the new year. Try as I might to remain focused on the few remaining tasks I need to complete before I wrap up work this year, my mind continues to skip ahead to Christmas and our trip up north. Packing for a young family of five for a cross-country road trip on Christmas day is no easy feat! Lots to prepare, lots to pack, and hopefully–lots of fun to be had!

If you’re reading this, please pray for travel mercies for us. As much as our Texan kiddos want to see snow, it can be a nightmare for driving. Hopefully it won’t be an issue, but if it is, we’ll just have to adjust our expectations and take ‘er slow and easy. We look forward to posting lots of fun pictures and stories of our trip after the new year.

For now, you can check out the December photo album for some pictures of our Christmas festivities to date. We hope you all have a fun and joy-filled Christmas!

Life is a funny thing. When we bought our house in 2004, one of the aspects we loved about it was its proximity to a newly constructed city park, complete with two playgrounds, a covered pavilion, walking track, open fields for soccer, and a baseball backstop. While we didn’t have any kids at the time, we had hoped to start a family one day and we knew this would be a great place to spend quality family time.

When driving by “our” park, you cannot miss the large red pavilion at the corner of the lot, which houses several picnic tables and grills. The pavilion stands roughly thirty feet high, and the bright red metal roof stands in stark contrast to the pale blue Texas sky on a sunny day. The park is officially named Dick Faram Park, but around here we all know it as simply, the “Red Park”.

Between the pavilion and the playground is a raised concrete platform that supports a happy piece of sculpted art featuring a family of five visiting the park with their dog. When we first saw this piece, we noted that the dog bore a striking resemblance to our schnauzer, Gromit. Five years later, the artwork seems to reflect more of our family than just our dog:

P.S. For more November pictures, click here.