All Other Ground Is Sinking Sand

Out in the country...

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:38:00 +0000

Out in the country, you can do things like jump in big piles of leaves...

Listen to Auburn football on the radio (as loud as you want!)...

Gather around the fire pit and tell stories...

Sit on the ground to eat your lunch...

Or even wear your pants on top of your head...

Sorry, Ann. I promise no clothes were harmed in the making of this picture. The sun was bright, and her dad thought the best way to protect her bald, white head was to use her pants as a sun visor.

It worked. No sunburn!

We enjoyed one of the most beautiful Saturday afternoons this weekend at the home of our friends, the Browns. We tailgated near their home and snacked on Jambalaya (D is from Louisiana), tenderloin sandwiches, veggie meatballs, chips and dip, potato salad, and pumpkin crunch bars. We had drinks, footballs, Big Wheels, big screen TVs, radios, and lots of sunshine.

Everyone got comfy and enjoyed themselves...

Including all the little babies...

And the moms got a chance to relax and catch up as well...(Amanda had just left)

This is a photograph of the barn near where we played. Isn't it lovely?

Adam and I left with very real desires to move out of our neighborhood and off somewhere to live like this. Fortunately, there are such areas within a short drive of our current home, and we started to dream about all the possibilities. There is something so peaceful and simple about having a home surrounded by gravel roads and big oak trees and barns and pastures - instead of the one-third acre lots we live on now! That said, we have no idea what the future might hold - but, for one afternoon, we enjoyed life "out in the country..."

Thank you, friends, for such a fun day!

More posts to follow!

Lazy Mornings

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Sometimes we have lazy mornings around our house. Nowhere to be. Nothing going on. No rush to get going.

However, a certain adorable baby often finds herself awake and ready to play.

Sometimes, dad even goes and gets this certain adorable baby from her crib and brings her into our room for some quality time.

And this makes said adorable baby VERY happy.

So thankful for lazy mornings.

Even if they start at 6:00 a.m.

On a Saturday.

Smile.

Five Years

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:09:00 +0000

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid rock we stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

A not so scary weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:43:00 +0000

Potentially scary thing number 1 - Our first Halloween with a baby!

On Thursday, we got the party started a little early by decking this little one out in her "fall pumpkin outfit." I hesitate to call it "dressing up for Halloween," but her Granna had bought her this adorable suit, and we just had to get some wear out of it.

Not so scary. Very cute!

Potentially scary thing number 2 - A second adorable costume: a penguin suit which happened to be constructed for a real penguin who lives in sub-arctic conditions.

We took her to A & T's house as well as to the Eiland's. Sadly, the Owens had NO CANDY for her, but Russ had plenty (for her parents). John was not so sure about her nor did he care for his lion costume. He would NOT wear the hat that went with his suit! Additionally, no one would hold Kate because they'd start sweating. Once we figured out that she was sweating, too, we took the crazy costume off and let her play in her diaper!

Potentially scary thing number 3 - Going back to Auburn.

After our last visit (and the way they've been playing the last two games) we swore we'd not be back on the Plains this year. This, and the fact that the forecast said, "Rain - 100%." However, thanks to the generosity of the Browns and our love of all things Auburn, we headed south. Granna and Pop had the baby taken care of, and we were on our way. We had a blast sitting with these lovely friends, and we came away with several new "inside jokes." It was quite a time to say the least!

After the big win...and after avoiding the torrential downpours of earlier in the day. It only rained briefly around halftime, and it wasn't even enough to get us super wet.

{the hat came out because my huge head of hair was obstructing my view}

Two of us even got to make a visit up to a friend's Skybox (thanks Crystal!) and see the game from a different vantage point! We got to "trick-or-treat" Auburn style in the land of the Skyboxes (and brought our hubbies back a few treats!).

And just as quickly as we were there, we were gone. We had to beat Talladega race traffic and get home to our pumpkin.

...who was exhausted from a long day of playing and giggling. But, that smile came out eventually....

Halloween Thoughts Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:33:00 +0000

So I got up this morning with a good idea for a blog post, or at least what I thought was a good idea. Since Halloween is a couple of days away, I thought I'd riff for a bit about what I think of Halloween...how I've never really liked it, how it is not a "holiday" since you don't get off work, and so on. I was going to talk some about convictions, how some people choose not to participate because of the occult references. Then I was going to talk about how I have sympathies for that, though my real reason for not liking it is that I just don't like dressing up and don't like being scared. I thought this blog post was going to be killer, and would be guaranteed to generate at LEAST two whole comments.

Then I searched through the blog archives, and found I had already blogged about almost all of that, two years ago. Further proof that my best days are behind me. Anyway, if you want to read my Halloween thoughts (which is maybe three or four people), you can click here for part one, and here for part two. I think my favorite costume idea is the Me from the Future one. You could just say that you are dressed up as you from whatever time in the future it is where you get home and take off your costume. Genius!

For the record, various people have loaned us costumes for Kate to wear on Saturday. I think we're going to have to do several wardrobe changes throughout the day, sort of like Tater is hosting some type of awards show. Fortunately we go through several outfits a day anyway, due to projectile spit up and other leaky toxic substances. We'll definitely wash the costumes before we send them back.

And let me apologize right off the bat to BowenOwens and to BP...I know Halloween is your favorite time of year, so I'm sorry for raining on your parade. Except they don't have Halloween parades, as far as I'm aware. Maybe the Satanists have a parade, who knows. Anyway, enjoy your day.

Mountain Get-away

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:47:00 +0000

Adam and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to the mountains of western North Carolina this weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary (a little early). We decided this was the only weekend within the next several weeks that we could go, and so we booked a cabin on Tuesday. Special thanks to Adam's brother Ben for house sitting while we were gone (and for watching Russ and Katherine's dogs too!).

Any type of travel takes on a new meaning when you have one of these in tow...

Our constant companion and newest traveling buddy, Kate...she did quite well on her first real vacation (and has visited four states in her first four months!).

view from the front of our porch (complete w/ rocking chairs!)

Friday morning, we strolled through the downtown area of nearby Murphy, NC. What is it with moose and bears in these small mountain towns?

They had a really cool little shop called Moose Hollow, which was full of the kind of stuff you would use to furnish a mountain cabin. The owner gave us some "moose bucks" to spend because we had a "new family member." Hilarious. Then, it starting pouring. And really poured throughout the day. We had found an awesome cabin nestled way up at the top of a big hill deep in the woods. I'm glad we were in my parents' SUV, as the road to the cabin was, well, a long, steep, dirt road. So, we got a little "mud on the tires."

Sorry, Dad.

So, what else did we do...

I spent a lot of time practicing up on my photography skills.

The foliage was absolutely stunning up in the western parts of North Carolina. This is our 4th trip to the mountains in the fall, and we have decided the last weekend of October or first weekend of November is just prime.

On Saturday, the weather got a little better, so we headed south of our location to Vogel State Park, the oldest park in Georgia. They had a beautiful lake that we were able to hike around.

With temperatures in the 50s, we bundled this little girl up and attached her to her Dad.

I found our first vacation with an infant to be quite interesting. I thew my "routine" out the window for the first time in 4 mos. Naps? Ha. Nursing? Everywhere. Baby fashion? Who cares when you're out on the trail.

I think she woke me up every hour the first night - all those "sounds" babies make from deep within the Pack-n-Play. I have been spoiled to silence - sleeping without the monitor for two months now! Kate also forgot that she isn't supposed to wake up until 7 a.m. Vacations mean that Mom will feed you at 4 a.m., 5 a.m. - heck, all morning long if that's what it takes. It also meant that Dad would get up with you if you weren't settled - I found them curled up on the couch together every morning we were there!

Our cabin in the woods was truly in the middle of the woods. We were REALLY far away from most things, including ESPN. Adam ended up listening to the Auburn game via an A.M. radio station out of New Orleans that we only sort of received . You can imagine the quality of the broadcast. I would run out to the truck to check on him, and I would hear mostly remnants of a Spanish newscast with some LSU football commentators interspersed. At halftime, he came inside and hung out by the fire with me, saying, and I quote, "Auburn is terrible again." War Eagle anyway!

I took food to cook for the weekend nights. Adam grilled burgers as we enjoyed this view off our back porch - an amazing sunset on Saturday night!

I was reading from The Mission of Motherhood on the way home from our trip, and I came across this quote related to being creative in activities for our children:

How important it is that, as mothers, we seek to expose our children to the evidence of God's artistry and power that is all around us. Our children are not just brains that need to be developed academically or trained to think right thoughts. Our children were designed by God to receive pleasure through their senses, their hearts, their minds, because of all the wonderful things he made for us to enjoy - and also to come to know their Creator through the works of his hands.

She goes on to say, "Their appetites for life need to be built on those things that reflect the image of God through the works of his fingers."

Adam and I plan to strive to do this very thing. We want our children to be just in awe of God's creation as we are. We want them to long to run and play outside. To get in the dirt. To climb the mountains. To play in the streams. To see God in the mountains and the rivers and the fields. And to find enjoyment in these things that "reflect God's image" instead of the more harmful things of our culture. I hope we can make time and set aside financial resources for many more trips just like this one!

Ah, Lord God! Behold, Thou has made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for thee! Jer. 32:17

Family Picture

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:34:00 +0000

A friend of ours from church took a few pictures of us at the baptism service. I posted those under Adam's baptism post. He's also been taking the church pictures for our directory. He sent me this copy yesterday. This is our first official professional picture. Not bad, huh?

How we got Kate looking at the camera (or in that general vicinity) is a mystery to all of us.

Kate's Gown

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

I said one post per day, but I lied.

My child is sleeping soundly, the house is clean, laundry is now done, and it's time to edit some pics.

Kate's grandmothers gave her a special Feltman Bros gown for her baptism. I held my breath that my 4 mo old could wear this beautiful 0 to 3 mo dress. It fit her perfectly, and I thought it fitting for this special day.

Too bad she only wore it for a few minutes before she was whisked off to a wardrobe change.

But, we hope that future Turnbulls or future Owens will be able to sport this attire :-)

A girl just needs a pretty dress.

*Shout-out to J for helping me with my camera skillz! I took your advice to get these shots!

Thoughts on Kate's Baptism & Service

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:45:00 +0000

What a wonderful weekend we have had!

Warning: This post is long. I'm writing this early. Baby is protesting being back in a routine. Laundry is strewn about. Things are crazy. But, I must update. Must update!

As I was feeding Kate early early on Sunday morning, I took some time to pray over her and over our day. I have to admit something here - some moms speak of all the praying that they do while feeding the baby, but I don't always use my time so wisely. I want to do it, but I just don't. I think of other things. I plan. I organize thoughts in my head. I think of how much I love her. But, I don't always thank her heavenly Father for such a gift. But today, for good reason, the Lord brought her to mind, and I prayed. I prayed that we would all soak in her special day and be somehow changed by it.

You can view the video in the post below, but video doesn't do justice to the work the Lord did. Today's service was especially meaningful to me, and it began as I stood before my congregation to be a part of the sacrament of baptism. At that moment, I couldn't help but be so very thankful and proud to be wife of Adam and mother of Kate. This is our little family. God has finely and wonderfully orchestrated that this day would come (even though I often doubted him). Tears welled up inside of me. Chills ran down my arms. I knew I was in the presence of the Lord.

And then, very quickly, I was in the presence of a hungry, tired 4 mo old.

After I took "the screaming one" out to the nursery for a wardrobe change and bottle, I came back into the service just in time to sing, "How Deep the Father's Love for Us." Oh, my. Read on, my friends:

How deep the Father’s love for us,
how vast beyond all measure
that He should give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss.
The Father turns His face away
as wounds which mar the Chosen One
bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon the cross,
my sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything:
no gifts, no pow’r, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ:
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Mike preached a 51 minute sermon, and I was convicted by every single minute of it. He preached on comprehending the love of God in Christ Jesus (Eph. 3:14-19). As the song goes, God loved me so very much that he put his son on a cross to die for my sin. And in death, I am given life. Life eternal. I've known this truth for a long time, and yet, every single day I fail to live up to this gift that was given me. I sin. My sin is great. Really great. I sin against my friends; against my daughter, against my husband. I would never want to admit publicly all of the ways I fall. But, I will confess them to the Father. And thankfully, he graciously loves me and forgives me anyway.

Mike said that this week, he has been praying that Kate will never remember a day when she was lost. That she will come to know Christ at an early age. How poignant I thought his comments were. It reminded me of my own experience. By the grace of God and through my parents' faith and example, I was able to come to salvation very young. I was spared from many heartaches because I trusted in the Lord early and was surrounded by spiritual mentors who encouraged me and kept me from some really dangerous "worldly" situations.

There are a lot of things I will pray for Kate. That she be intelligent. Articulate. Witty. Good at what she does. I know I'll pray that she makes the soccer team. Or that she wins a certain award. I'm sure I'll ask the Lord to help her with her tests at school. You know, all the "important" stuff.

But, not a single one of those things are as important as her relationship with her Creator. None. Those things won't save her.

The service today and the pastor's words reminded me that our prayers for Kate must be that she come to know what will really save her. That God is already welling up in her heart a desire to know him. That she would be passionate about the scriptures. That she would know and comprehend the love of God in Christ. Of what he did for her on the cross. And that she would come to know him despite her parents' sinful example.

Praise the Lord that he used such a special day to remind me of what is truly important.

Now for some pictures...

The whole family joined us at church and for lunch afterwards at our home.

Kate played with every single one of them, including Pop, who was trying to get out the door and on to he and Granna's fall break vacation in North Carolina. Kate didn't want him to go.

The Eiland's stopped by to grab some lunch. John tried out the wooden high chair I found at a yard sale Saturday morning. It's for Granna's house.

Kate slept from the church to the house. Once we started eating, she woke up and realized she wasn't the center of attention anymore. It was only a matter of seconds before a grandmother snatched her up from that car seat.

Aunt Amanda

Uncle Ben

More Turnbulls

I coordinated the meal, and I wanted to do a special cake as part of it. I emailed out my friends asking for cake help. Kelly provided two pans, and it turns out that I do, in fact, own cake decorating utensils. Who knew?!

And, totally unrelated, but because one post per day is my limit, here's another one. We went for a late afternoon walk to try and get some sun - it was my first attempt to bundle up a baby. Thanks to friend Sarah, she has her own crazy hat! Although, it's a wee bit too big. Oh, well!

Have a good week!

Kate's Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:46:00 +0000

Here is a video of Kate being baptized this weekend at church, if you are interested in watching. It's about 7 minutes long. Our pastor does a good job of summarizing how our church views the sacrament of baptism, since no doubt some of my friends who knew us from our Baptist days would like some sort of explanation. And Tater, she didn't like getting wet, but other than that she was a real champ. Sorry the video is so small...I was going to put this on Youtube, but decided that I didn't want this all over the internet. So I'm putting it here, where I at least have some idea who is viewing it. Please share any questions or comments you have. Ashley will be back soon with more pictures as well as more commentary on our special weekend.

P.S. Kate says "If you a child of the covenant, lemme hear ya say YEAH!"

Here's to 4 months!

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:23:00 +0000

We went in today to Kate's four month check-up. Here are the stats:

Height: 26" (95%)
Weight: 14 lbs 10 oz (75%)
Head: 42 cm (75%)

The doc was pleased with everything but said that we needed to work on her neck muscles. She favors one side (rolling, where she looks, head positioning), so we're going to be doing some neck stretches and exercises next week! All else checked out just fine.

Part of our daily routine involves reaching for these rings:

Can't seem to get that one to rotate correctly...oh, well.

And, there's that middle finger again. What the heck?

We're sitting in our Bumbo more and more. Grabbing objects. Putting them in her mouth.

Putting EVERYTHING in her mouth.

Other updates: She does a lot of "oohing and aahing" and laughs out loud when you try hard enough. When I go in to get her up from sleep/naps, she flops from one side to the other like a fish out of water. I can barely "catch" her to pick her up! She's rolling over and over and over. She scoots around the floor and/or the crib (the beginnings of a crawl?). She doesn't like to be flat on her back - she'll hold her head up and legs in the air so that it looks as if she's doing crunches. We call her stomach the "abs of steel." She likes routine, but if it's nap-time, she'll sleep anywhere. The past two weeks she hasn't taken a bottle in church nursery - we're going to HAVE to work on that one! For this mama's sake! And speaking of food, we're going to wait a little longer to do solids or cereal - maybe next month? I'm just keeping things simple right now!

So, here's to 4 months! She's such a joy!

**Disclaimer: as I'm typing this, she is screaming in her crib - protesting nap time! Oh, well...she's still a good baby!

Apology, or Excuse Making?

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:02:00 +0000

I found this in my browsal of the interweb today, and thought it was too amusing not to share:

Pretty funny, huh? It hits a little close to home though, at least for me. Whenever Ashley and I have a disagreement, when we're apologizing to each other, it's almost always like that. It's rationalization, justification, "I know I wronged you but here is how I'm going to explain it so that I come out looking a little better." I won't speak for Ashley, but I know I'm TERRIBLE about doing stuff like this. If she's upset with me, I want to explain why she shouldn't be upset, or paint some picture that shines a more positive light on me. I wonder, why do I apologize in this way? I'm not saying I should never try to explain myself, because a lot of the time when I'm upset with Ashley or she's upset with me it really was just a simple misunderstanding. But still, since when is an apology supposed to be offered in a half-hearted way with a ton of qualifiers? Look at that image above again...it's like yes, I'm sorry, but really I think you are the one who has the problem. Is that really an apology? When you apologize like that, your pride is still involved, and you are trying to save face. Why can't I just admit that I messed up and leave it at that?

I don't know about y'all, but I'm really working on apologizing without any qualifiers. "I'm sorry, I'm wrong, please forgive me." No hemming and hawing, no excuses, no placing the blame anywhere other than on me. That's not a natural response, but that's the response I want to model in the future.

Fridays

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Happy Weekend!

Another Request for Feedback

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Since we've been getting lots of good feedback lately on the questions we've asked, I figured why not try my luck with another appeal to the blog readership. Ashley and I have been thinking about trying to maybe get a larger vehicle around the first of the year. The Camry works ok, but by the time we load it up with a baby and assorted baby accessories, it leaves no room for the war beagles, not to mention future babies and future assorted baby accessories. So as it is, while we can certainly get by, more space would be nice for the long term. In fact, we've thought about it, and almost all of our friends with kids have SUVs or larger. The only sedan holdouts we know are our friends Ben and Abby (who are about to give birth to their second, and it will be interesting to see how they make two kids work).

So while it's far from definite, we're considering getting a new (to us) vehicle. This is where I need your help, readers. Ashley wants an SUV of some kind, like a Highlander, a Pilot, a Murano, or the like. She really likes the GMC Acadia, but I think that's too big and too pricey for us. Now I'm not opposed to these SUV vehicles. But to me, the best way to balance cargo space, seating, fuel economy, all for a reasonable price is...wait for it...a minivan. I suggested this to Ashley, and she looked at me like I just suggested she exchange her entire wardrobe for burlap sacks. This may or may not have been a conniption fit, I'm not sure. "No way" she said. "They are not very sporty." I told her that she pretty much gave up any hope of ever being sporty the second she said yes to my marriage proposal. She's undeterred though. She wants an SUV, and won't even entertain the idea of a minivan.

Somehow, I've got to convince Ashley that something like a Honda or Toyota minivan is the way to go. Granted, they aren't especially sporty. In fact, several images come to mind when I think of a minivan: ballet practice, dinner some place classy like Applebees, riding go carts in Pigeon Forge, engaging in random acts of middle classitude. Here's the deal, though...I am that guy. I'm 31, I'm chubby and balding, who am I going to impress? I already look the part, I might as well have the van to go with it.

That's where I need your help. I know several of you have already taken the minivan plunge. What made you decide that your coolest sportiest days were behind you? How much do you like being a minivan person? Isn't it the best decision you ever made? Share your journey into minivan land, including the highs and lows. Hopefully you can help me help Ashley embrace who we really are now...thirty-something parents who need to value utility over image.

UPDATE: As long as we're talking minivans, what I REALLY think makes the most sense is something like this:

Who needs a minivan when you can get a full sized van? Look how much fun that family is having at the beach!

First Toy

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:13:00 +0000

I promise we do other things around here besides sit and stare at our baby all day.

Well, let's be honest. Not much else.

Nights seem to be really mellow these days. Kate sets the mood. Typically, she has just eaten and is super happy when Mr. T walks in from work. They hang out and play for a bit, we eat supper, we clean up from supper, and then the "staring" starts. And the "what can we do to make her laugh" game begins. And then the "how do we keep her calm until bathtime/bedtime routine starts?" follows. It's all quite entertaining.

Our desire and/or ability to maintain social activities is iffy. However, this week it's quite busy. Remaining this week:

Girls' Night (me w/o Adam/Baby)
Watching The Office: Jim & Pam's Wedding (ah!!!!) with the Calverts
Pumpkin carving party!
Football Saturday

Just didn't want you to think we were without at least some adult interaction :-)

Moving on...

We're working on hand-mouth coordination this week. For a couple of weeks, she's been pulling her paci out and attempting to get it back in her mouth by herself. We've moved on to "rings" now. Cheap, durable, plastic rings. Endless "minutes" of entertainment.

Sometimes, her toys get stuck between her belly and the bumbo. Oh, no!

And then she just looks at me like, "mom, let's move on to physics problems, please."

But instead, we get dressed, move into a different room, and work on getting those rings to our mouth WHILE lying on our tummy. Try THAT!

Sadly, it doesn't always work out like she wants, and she gets fussy.

But, she always comes back with a vengeance! Those rings WILL make it to her mouth somehow, even if it's with a fight!

With that, playtime is over.

And my sweet, always angelic baby is ready to go down for her nap :-)

"Please mommy put me in my crib so I can easily and quickly fall asleep for exactly 2 hrs."

{Insert sarcastic laugh}

Here's a question for you mamas out there:

With Christmas coming up, I'm starting to look at the toy selection for this age. The Grands want lists, and lists I will try to provide. How do you know what to buy? Is there some "top 10" out there for baby toys? Where do I start looking? What will she want to play with over the next few months?

**Disclaimer: I do NOT plan to buy 1000 toys for this child. She will be just as entertained with the orange cup we use in the tub at bathtime as she will with the pricey toys. But, I would like to find a couple of things that help with developmental skills...so, suggestions are welcome.

Monday Update

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:34:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts on how best to schedule the holidays. We've thought of an idea that we think has potential, given where my folks are and where Ashley's family lives. But I'm not sharing the idea yet, since it's not final. There, that gives you some suspense, so you'll have to keep checking back. It's sort of like one of those cliffhanger endings to a show where you have to wait all summer to find out what happened. I promise we won't make you wait three months, and that there will be no shocking twists. But, I did think of what I want to do for the Christmas card. I had this idea while I was taking a shower, but you can rest assured that it has nothing to do with cleanliness or with me being in a disrobed state. I told my idea to Ashley, and though she typically thinks I'm a huge idiot, she actually thought this idea has potential. So I need for everyone to send me whatever picture of yourself/your family you would like to appear in our Christmas card. Yes, it's going to be a mosaic again, but that's all I'm telling you. If you don't send me a picture, I will either find one on Facebook or your blog, or just use a picture of a donkey's behind to symbolize your unwillingness to cooperate. Even though Halloween is still four weeks away, the displays at Target seem to think Christmas is next week. So we need to get one this. Send me your preferred pictures soon.

Meanwhile, I have two other questions to ask based off of conversations from this weekend. While Ashley and I were at the nature preserve enjoying the lovely fall weather, she described someone as having a "conniption fit." Now, I've heard this expression numerous times, and even used it myself. But I have absolutely no idea what a conniption is. Apparently it is a descriptive word used to differentiate one type of fit from another. In Ashley parlance, it is roughly equivalent to having a "come apart" as well as "going ballistic." But I'm still somewhat clueless as to what a conniption is exactly, and how a conniption fit differs from other fits like, say, the hissy fit. If any of you can shed some light on this important question, I'd appreciate it.

And in a similar vein, I got an email from my mother in law this morning saying that she accidentally drank a pepsi max, which kept her awake in bed until 2:30 AM this morning. Leaving aside whether it is common for mother in laws to give email updates on how much sleep they got, she said that she had caffeine "out the gazoot." I emailed her back to ask exactly where on the human body the gazoot is located. She hasn't let me know yet, but when she does, I'll share. I'd really like to know, because as injury-prone as I am, a serious gazoot-sprain is probably in my future.

That's all I have for now. If you have any insight about the questions I just asked, or if you fear that you might be experiencing a conniption in your gazoot, please let me know. Meanwhile, I've got several things I want to blog about over the next couple of days, so consider yourself warned.

Good Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:02:00 +0000

It's been so nice out, and so my friend Dawn took a few pictures for us one day earlier this week. Not that we had very many where the baby was actually looking at the camera :-)

But, at least I have a few with my girl (I would much rather be behind the camera, so I took a few of her and Tripp, too!).

Happy Fall!

Holiday Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:47:00 +0000

So it appears not many of you liked my movie script. I guess that's fine...I have to remember that the demographic here is 95% people who just want to see pictures of Tater. Maybe next time I'll write a romantic comedy or something. Two hapless singles learn to love themselves, and each other, in the foothills of Appalachia in this whimsical, warm, coming-of-age tale. Maybe y'all would like "Asheville Sky" better than "Yellowstone Dawn."

Anyway, here's a question. How do those of you who have parents/family in different cities split up your holidays? Up until now it hasn't been that big of an issue in our marriage. Neither family has strong Thanksgiving traditions, so we've often taken that opportunity to travel. But both families have big Christmas traditions, so every other year we've rotated which family we'd be with on Christmas Eve/Day. No big deal so far. But now Kate is on the scene, and that complicates things. I'm sure everybody will want to see her on Christmas morning, due to her being excessively precious and an all around joy to be with. Plus Ashley and I eventually will want to do Christmas in our own house. When old traditions morph into new ones, the potential is there for major problems, for hurt feelings, for tearful fits of rage, for flying fists and blood-curdling screams...and that's just how Ashley is going to react. There's no telling what our moms will be like.

That's why I'm tossing it out to you, our faithful friends, confidants, and blog stalkers. We're trying to plan out how to attack the next few weeks, and we'd love to know this: how do you do holidays? Do you alternate, or do you have set things for each year? Did your holiday traditions change any once kids arrived? Would you be willing to solve all of my problems by donating a large cash sum to me, which I will then use to purchase a huge cabin in the Smokies which will house everyone who wants to celebrate the holidays with us? Help us solve the mystery of the holidays.

By the way, to increase participation, anyone who has a good idea as to how we could do the holidays in such a way that everyone gets tons of Kate time, that person will be featured prominently in this year's Bull Christmas Card. You might recall just how blindingly awesome my cards were in 2007 and 2008, so imagine how cool it will be if you get to be a huge part of 2009's magic. Hurry up and leave your comments now.

Bull Writes a Movie: Yellowstone Dawn

noreply@blogger.com (Bull) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Here is a post I did for my manswers blog today. Based off of some feedback I've gotten, I was encouraged to post it here as well. There's a rumor going around that since I haven't been posting as much stupid stuff, I might actually have begun maturing some. I'm confident this will dispel that rumor pretty quickly.

I wrote a movie screenplay today. I don't know how many of you have been watching, but this week PBS has been running a pretty good documentary on the history of the US National Parks. I really do love exploring the national parks; I've been to several of them, and want to visit them all. While I was watching this show, I was wondering to myself what would make it better. And a thought occurred to me...what if I combined my love of the national parks with my love of badical action movies? So ladies and gentlemen, today I give you the product of that wondering: Yellowstone Dawn. If you have any suggestions as to which actors should play which parts, I'd be more than happy to hear them. Also any songs for the soundtrack you have in mind, along with where in the movie they should go. Without further ado, Yellowstone Dawn.

Scene 1: Yosemite National Park. A couple of dudes are having a nice day climbing El Capitan.

Dude 1: Sure is a nice day for a climb.
Dude 2: Yep. Hey, that looks like a missile headed straight for us.
Dude 1: Oh no!

Missile blows up the side of El Capitan and the dudes perish. In the valley below, a terrorist who is definitely not from the Middle East so as to avoid stereotypes looks on with a grim smile.

Terry (that is his name): Phase 1 of my plan is complete. Terrorist sidekick with a thick yet unidentifiable accent who is the brawn behind this outfit, get me the President on the phone.
Brawny terrorist: Aye sir.
Hot lady who has misgivings about the terrorist plan but is attracted to Terry's charisma: Ooh, let's make out.
Terry: Sounds good.

(They make out, but we cut away quickly because this movie is PG)

Scene 2: Oval Office. President Wong, played by an Asian lady for the purposes of diversity, walks in and sees the red phone on her desk ringing.

President Wong: Herro?
Terry: Sup President. I'm sure you've heard by now that I shot a missile in Yosemite. If you don't give me ten billion dollars, as well as total control of Louisiana (their gumbo is delicious), I'm going to blow up Yellowstone.
President: Ten Birrion! Rouisiana! Yerrowstone! You are crazy.
Terry: Why are you pronouncing all of your Ls like Rs?
President: I am an Asian lady for the purposes of diversity, and I am playing into the stereotype.
Terry: That makes sense. Get me my money and my gumbo or Yellowstone is ancient history.
President: I see you have an appreciation for irony, since Yerrowstone features many ancient seismic formations.
Terry: You have one hour.
President: Ok, bye.
(hangs up, then turns to VP American Indian)
President: Get me someone from the National Parks Service.
VP Tenderfoot: Yes ma'am.

Scene 3: A busted up double wide trailer somewhere way out in the middle of Yellowstone. A caucasian Park Ranger named John Ranger is asleep on his couch covered in empty bottles of bourbon. The door busts open, and in walks a token hilarious black sidekick named Jamal.

Jamal: Wake up John! Fo' shizzle!
John: Leave me alone. I prefer to be drunk, because at some point before this movie started, my wife left me and took my dog. The only way I would get up is if my country needed me in some way. This is foreshadowing.
Jamal: You crazy, white boy, you crazy!
(Phone rings, John answers)
VP Tenderfoot: Hello, this is the Vice President. Stand by to talk to President Wong.
John: Ok.
President Wong: Herro John. Terry the Terrorist is about to blow up Yerrowstone National Park. You must stop him.
John: But President, I'm in Yellowstone. I've never even heard of Yerrowstone.
President: Please do not make fun of my R and L situation. It is a sensitive topic.
John: Sorry. How much time do I have to stop this guy?
President: 57 minutes.
John: Ok, gotta go, talk to you later.
President: You are Yerrowstone's onry hope. Good ruck.
John: I seriously have no idea what you just said.
(hangs up, then turns to Jamal)
John: I am totally sober now, and we've got 57 minutes to stop Terry the Terrorist from blowing this whole place up.
Jamal: Oh snap! Let's roll!
(John and Jamal take off on their horses)

Scene 4: Terry, Brawny Terrorist, and Hot Lady are by Ol' Faithful setting up their explosives.

Brawny: How do you plan on blowing up this whole place?
Terry: If I drop my explosives into a very active seismic area, the resulting earthquakes and volcanoes and such will destroy everything. Look, why don't you worry about taking out any pesky park rangers who show up, and leave the planning to me.
Brawny: You got it boss.
Terry: I should take the time to explain to no one in particular why I'm doing this. I had a bad experience on a youth group retreat one time, which leads me both to an abiding hatred of national parks, and an abiding love of bayou gumbo. This is character development.
Hot lady: I have reservations about this plan, because while you two were talking I walked over and made friends with a lovable moose. I don't want to hurt him.
Terry (slaps her): If I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you.
Hot lady: My current expression shows that I don't like you anymore, and that I will most likely wind up helping any park rangers who show up.
(John and Jamal come riding up)
John: Stop, you terrorist! I am John Ranger, here to foil your nefarious plans!
Terry: Wait, you're a park ranger named John Ranger?
John: Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm named John because all action heroes are named John, and the Ranger thing was just lucky I guess.
Terry: Well I don't think John Ranger is a very catchy name.
John: Oh yeah? Well your mom is not very catchy!
Terry: That doesn't make sense.
(John punches Terry, but doesn't see Brawny sneaking up behind him and Jamal. He cracks them both over the head, and they get knocked out. Brawny puts them in a cage suspended over Old Faithful. They wake up, and see Terry putting the finishing touches on his missile)
John: You'll never get away with this!
Terry: Oh but I will. I am leaving now. I could have killed you earlier, but instead I put you in a cage that you can only escape from if someone helps you. Good luck with that.
(Terry, Brawny, and Hot Lady leave).
John: Well darn, we are in a real pickle.
Jamal: Sho' nuff! I was hoping to get a crack at that Brawny guy, so that I could deliver a token one liner.
John: Yep. If only someone would help us get out of this cage.
Jamal: Who even knows we're here who would be sympathetic enough to help us get out of this precarious situation?

Scene 5: Terry and co. are headed out of the park to get away from the explosion

Hot Lady: I sure do miss my new moose friend. And John was very attractive.
Terry: Well, whatever you do, don't run away while Brawny and I are not looking.
(Hot Lady's moose friend and some of his buddies moose-rush the vehicle the terrorists are in, distracting Brawny and Terry. Hot Lady runs away)
Hot Lady (to the mooses): Thanks guys!
Terry: We didn't need her anyway. I hope I don't regret telling her where our secret hideout is.

Scene 6: Back at Old Faithful, Hot Lady comes riding up on the back of her moose friend.

Hot Lady: I am here to rescue you. The timer on the missile shows only 60 seconds, so this is going to be very dramatic and exciting.
John: Tell you what. If you let me down, I'll disarm the missile, you and I will make out for a bit, and then Jamal and I will go chase Terry.
Hot Lady: Sounds good. I know where they are heading, and after we make out I'll tell you.
(All of that happens)

Scene 7: Terrorist hideout.

Brawny: Shouldn't our missile have gone off by now?
Terry: Yes. I hope nothing went wrong.
John (showing up): Something did go wrong. Your girlfriend, who is now my girlfriend, helped us escape. I disarmed your explosives, made out with her, and now I'm here to fight you to the death.
Terry: It would be very interesting if, before we fought, a chase scene ensued where you end up squaring off with me and Jamal ends up squaring off with Brawny.
John: Agreed.
(That happens. First, we see Jamal catch up with Brawny)
Brawny: You cannot beat me, as I am strong and foreign.
Jamal: Insert hilarious joke here.
(Jamal takes a beating, but ultimately kills Brawny)
Jamal: Insert a second, even more hilarious joke here.
(Back to John and Terry)
John: Give it up, Terry, you are through
Terry: No way, Ranger. You'll have to kill me!
John: Ok
(John kills Terry)
John: One liner.

Scene 8: John, Jamal, Hot Lady, and the moose are in the Oval Office with the President

President: John, the entire nation owes you a debt of gratitude.
John: Just doing my job. All I want to do now is settle down with Hot Lady and our new moose friend and live a peaceful life.
(phone rings)
President: Herro?
Jerry, Terry's brother: This is Jerry, Terry's brother. I am at the Grand Canyon with an even more evil plot than my brother had. If you want to stop me, it will at the very least take an entire sequel.
President: Oh no!
John: Jamal, there's more work to do.
Jamal: Man whitey, you keep me all twisted up in the game!
(everyone laughs, including Jerry, who apparently is still on the phone)
Jerry: Try and stop me!
John: See you in a bit.

Roll credits, including "COMING SOON: YELLOWSTONE DAWN 2: CANYON DESTINY"

A "Number" of Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:52:00 +0000

This past weekend I took some time to complain to Adam about various things (wives, you don't EVER do that, do you?). None of them had to do with him, but more with some struggles I have been having. See, when you stay at home, it's easy to feel boxed in. To want more than what's inside these four walls. To start flipping through home magazines, watching the latest trends on TV, doing a little too much online clothes browsing. I'll just be honest - many times, I find myself "wanting what everyone else has." Okay, I said it. The Lord has blessed us immensely both financially and materially, but I often say to him, "it's just not enough." I want what "they" have. I want "that" car. I want "that" house. I want "that" thing. The list is endless. And endlessly frustrating.

Of course, in typical Adam-fashion, he listened to me complain for a while, and then gently reminded me that I have no business looking at what others' have. We have more than enough. {I don't always want to hear the truth, but I'm glad he gives it to me anyway!} We also talked about something our pastor had said in his sermon on Sunday - God's goal in our life is not to make us happy. It's to make us holy.

Providentially, we are studying Numbers this week. As in, the 5th book of the Bible. Have you ever even looked at Numbers? Me, not so much.

Numbers is the continued story of the Israelites who are now standing at the edge of the Promised Land, soon to enter - just a few days journey from their new homeland, to freedom, and to happiness. He has brought them out of slavery, fed them, clothed them, and provided for them in countless ways. And yet, they complain. They look at God and shake their fists. As Dever says, "They are not satisfied with God and his great gifts to them, so they grumble about the things they don't have." He goes on to say this:

'In our lives, too, dissatisfaction is often the root of sin. Such dissatisfaction tells us more about our souls than about our circumstances. It indicates that our souls are feeding at the wrong place, trying to sate themselves on the slop in the trough rather than the fast on God's banquet table. And once we complain about God's provision, sinning against his will is a short step away. Every sin, no matter how unconnected with religion it might seem to be, is really a short, sharp message to God: 'I don't like you. I would rather have these things than you. They give me what I want.'"

And again I was reminded that I am just steps away from being back in the pit. Back in perpetual sin. A place I do not want to be.

I hope this encourages you in some way today. It sure does a lot for me.

Lord, I pray that I NEVER look to another thing and think that it can satisfy nor save me. I pray that I look to you, to the provisions that YOU have put in front of me, and know that it is all I will need. Let me look only to Christ and Christ alone for my joy, and continually help me as I pursue holiness. Amen.

Kate Laughs

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:20:00 +0000

This is TERRIBLE video quality - note to gift givers: Turnbulls would like a decent camcorder for Christmas :-)

Without further ado, a video of my ridiculous husband doing everything he can to get our girl to laugh out loud:

Oh, and two things:
1) Anytime she sees the camera, she quits whatever she's doing - laughing, smiling, etc.
2) I had her in my lap this morning while I uploaded the video, and she saw herself and started laughing at the video!

The House of Waffles

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:23:00 +0000

Before we explain the title of this post, a few pics from Friday night.

I call this one, "Further Proof I look just like my Daddy."

The dads get brownie points for staying home with the little ones so that the moms could party for Dawn's birthday (of course, "party" is so relative, we were home by 9 p.m.!). We like to affectionately refer to these two as "John and Kate not to be confused with the crazy Jon and Kate plus 8!"

John was born just a few days before I found out I was pregnant. He just turned 1!

And, the mamas were dressed and ready to go - the first time I'd worn make-up on a weeknight in months!

The Eilands don't get enough face time on this blog. They should. We see them almost every day. And every weekend. You see, they live just down the street, and it's much too convenient to stop in for dinner, meet up for a walk, feed each other's dogs, make crazy videos, and other such friendly nonsense. In fact, I was going through pictures this week, editing ones that my SIL took in the waiting room on the afternoon Kate was born - and there was Russ! Who even knew he had stopped by to visit with the families while we labored!

We aren't sure what we'd do without them!

Today, after a morning run around the neighborhood, we proceeded to gain back all the calories we'd just burned. And, what better place to do that than Waffle House. I'll let Adam explain....

Bull here, finishing out our recap of Kate's first visit to the holy shrine that is Waffle House. Here's Kate putting her hat on while listening to Waffle House songs on the jukebox (you can here samples of them by clicking here)

Getting her hat like she likes it...

Perfect. Not in the least bit irritated that we are making her wear a comically large paper hat for photos.

Waffles are finger-licking good.

Sadly, they don't make WH hats in infant sizes. We looked away for 30 seconds, and this is what happened.

Here's Kater Tater and mom, with our lovely waitress in the background. I think her name was Ruth, or maybe Blanche. Notice Kater's Auburn outfit...it's on loan from our friends Ben and Abby, since it's too small for Ben to wear.

Waffle House was unhealthy and delicious, as expected. In this crazy world of constant change, you can always count on having a consistent experience at the Waffle House. I'm glad we got to share it with Kater. One day, I'm going to eat my way into the record books by becoming the first person to eat at every Waffle House in the country. Then I'm going to go on Biggest Loser, and die after they try to make me do a single push up and my heart explodes. I suppose there are worse ways to go. Hope everybody has a great weekend. Go Tigers!

Good Looks

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:07:00 +0000

I get these lovely emails from J.Crew for their Crewcuts line. Who knew they had a children's line! I think they're cute - agreed, probably not age-appropriate. But, I still like J.Crew - for me, at least :-)

EDIT BY ADAM: Are you kidding me? We're not dressing Kate like that. She will never ever wear prostiboots as long as I am breathing. We're dressing her in a way such that no guy will ever talk to her, like maybe this:

Friday Post: Nothing Special

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:59:00 +0000

No real news for today. It's been an interesting week, of sorts, and we have had several blogs in the making, but for a variety of reasons, none of them will make it up here. Suffice to say that Adam and I are in a season of learning. This week, we've had some of the best conversations of our marriage on the worst subjects. Thank you, Lord, for conversations that change us!

Update:
De-swaddle Bootcamp has gone so well! Baby Kate has continued sleeping through the night with only some minor fussing around 4 a.m. I just let her fuss for a minute, and she returns to sleep. Granted, her mama doesn't go back to sleep (it's hard for me once I have gotten up out of the bed). On Day 4 of Bootcamp, she took three beautiful, perfect, 2 hr naps in the daytime. I'm sure it was a fluke :-)

On one of those 4 a.m. mornings, I also had dogs barking and Kate crying. Then, I had dogs throwing up on my rug. Then, I had the neighbor's two dogs break in to my backyard and stir up trouble. It was a rough morning to say the least. I headed out on a jog and was ready to get back and get Kate down so that I could have some "me" time. Adam sent me this link once he was at work, and I had a little attitude check. Parents, take a minute to read this blog post. I guarantee it will encourage you and change the way you treat your children (and dogs!) today.

Weekend plans: dinner out with friends, Dawn's 30th birthday (happy birthday, girl!), and lots of football.

And that's it. Nothing special to say. Hope you have a good weekend!

Milestones

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Milestone #1:
I finished my first post-baby 5k! Whohoo! Suffice to say my time was slow. As in more than 30 minutes. But, it's progress. And it was raining. When I woke at 5 a.m. on Saturday, it was POURING. But, the race was still a great success! I appreciate all who came out and supported our ministry. We raised over $15,000 and had nearly 400 participants - a huge improvement from last year. Adam and Kate stayed long enough to blow out a diaper. Kate, that is.

After the race, we hung around the house and rested. I watched the game here while Adam went and hung out at his brother's. Me and Kate. Watching football together.

Milestone #2:
Sitting in the Bumbo.

Practicing keeping that head up!

And, just for record-keeping's sake - an updated picture of those monkey toes!

And piano-playing fingers...

And that deep, academic stare...

Milestone #3:
One day without the swaddle!

That's right, it's de-swaddle bootcamp! Up until now, I can attribute her sleeping 10 hrs a night and at all naptimes due to the lovely swaddle. But, I always come in to find her having kicked it off and the blankets balled up in corner of the crib. I also blame this on her strong legs. She must kick from 4 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. to get out of that thing! I think that means it's time to move on. So, today is Day 1. And tonight is Night 1.

Lord, help me. It could be a long night.

Y'all have a good week!