Sunday, August 31, 2008

Hurricane Gustav

We'd love prayer for our friends and family in Louisiana throughout tonight and tomorrow as Hurricane Gustav hits the coast. Thanks.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Which Jane Austen Heroine are You?

Surprisingly I am Elizabeth Bennett. I didn't think my answers seemed like Elizabeth Bennett answers, but maybe it's because we're so alike. :) Which heroine are you?

I am Elizabeth Bennet!


Take the Quiz here!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

One of those days (in a good way)

Rocky's been working from home since we got back from Thailand, and today was Rocky's first full day back in the office. I was worried Adelaide was going to be fussy missing her dad since she is sort of a daddy's girl. Though she asked "where daddy?" multiple times, today was one of those days that brought on impromptu "I love you"s over and over.

I don't know what it was about today, but Adelaide was in the best mood she's been in in a long while. Not only was she not fussy, she was super happy. Not only was she super happy, she did things that made me laugh. It was a great day.

I had to go to the dentist this morning and decided to bring Adelaide along with me. I was a little nervous she'd cause a commotion but she just sat patiently in her stroller for 45 minutes watching.

Then we came back home and watched Jude, our neighbor's son. To say they played well together is an understatement. Adelaide shared well and didn't annoy him. They laughed and imitated each other for a couple of hours. I was even able to let them play out in the back yard and Adelaide didn't fuss wanting me to come out with her.

Adelaide helped me load and unload the dishwasher. She did it exactly as she's supposed to including pushing in the bottom rack and shutting the door. When she saw that she was running out of clean dishes to unload she started handing me imaginary dishes so she wouldn't have to quit (this is one of those things that brought out an "i love you.") She's learning how to joke with me.

This morning she started playing "peek a boo" by covering her face with her hands. She got a huge thrill out of the game every time and loved telling me peek a boo over and over. We can add this to her list of phrases now.

At the YMCA today Adelaide didn't even cry when I put her in the nursery (something we've been struggling with recently thanks to good ol' separation anxiety). She just went off to play. When I peeked in on her she was prancing little horses around and having them "talk" to one another.

This evening Adelaide wanted to "wash tv." I put on Signing Time and we sat down together to watch. I was amazed as Adelaide picked up on almost all of the signs. She even used a few before bed. It was a good episode that included things like "brush teeth" and "brush hair."

Before bed she sat in her rocking chair and wanted me to read to her. So I did for about 30 minutes. And she just sat there interested in the Bible. That's a huge feat for a busy little girl.

I think the thing that takes the cake though is this. She went and got the wipes out of the bathroom (by climbing on the toilet), opened them, came up to me with one, and said "wash butt." Yes, wash butt. She proceeded to um. . . wash. Not her butt, but mine. I had the camera near so enjoy this photo of my butt. My kid cracks me up.

Life as Usual

I used to say that life was busy. I actually found myself saying that alot. Today I think I realized that I should just accept busyness as a way of life and then when things are slower I'll be pleased. So that said, life has been life as usual. Since it's been a little while since I posted I'll do my best to catch everyone up to speed.

A couple of weeks ago we hosted our first film festival. We had absolutely no idea what to expect. We didn't know how many would turn out. We didn't know if we'd be able to lead discussion well. We didn't know if the films would be well received. Well, it went well, and we're already looking forward to hosting another one some time. There were about 30 or so people that came which was perfect. If we would have had many more we would not have had room. We opened with Vinyl, a short film that Rocky's team made here in Austin. It's not quite complete yet, but it was by far the crowd favorite. I was super surprised because it was the lowest budget film they've done recently, and the story is simple, based on the parable of the Lost Coin. I'll have to get Rocky to post a link to it later so you can check it out. We showed 3 more films and had lots of other films showing on computers before and after the festival. It seemed like everyone had a great time. If you were there and you didn't, keep it to yourself :).


For a normally drought prone area, Austin has been getting lots of rain in the past week or so. I'm loving that I don't have to water the grass as much and Adelaide is loving that she gets to play in the rain.


Adelaide has been painting more. This time with a brush. To Rocky's surprise she didn't sample any of the real paint even though I let her eat the yogurt "paint" I made a couple of weeks ago. An old shirt of mine clothespinned in the back made a great painting smock. Just passing that tidbit along.

We had plans every day and every night for the past week and a half. All good stuff-- getting to know new folks and reconnecting with old friends. The highlight of the week was having our good friend Matt in town. We met and became friends when we were on STINT in Thailand back in 2002-2003. Though we haven't seen each other in about 2 and a half years, it felt just like old times. We mostly just hung out at some of Austin's most awesome restaurants (go Torchy's and Enoteca!), but we also made a stop at Toy Joy, a very Austiny toy store. It was our first time there, and it was lots of fun. I think this photo says it all. And for all those wondering-- yes, they will have adult versions of these before Christmas.


Another thing that has been keeping us busy is our new video game, Rock Band. Although I used to make fun of people that played it, I am now addicted (though I only play when people are over). It's a great game that actually sort of promotes hanging out. 4 band members try to rock faces off with the guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. That will show me for judging a book by its cover.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

oh and. . .

I almost forgot one of the most important phrases Adelaide's learned recently-- love you. It's awesome to hear especially unprompted.

It's crazy that she can communicate so clearly what she wants these days. She's putting together multiple words all over the place. And some how along the way talking turned from pointing out objects to communicating ideas. Some (not nearly all) of the other phrases we've hear recently:
"play blocks please mama"
"sit mama"
"rock chair mama"
" read book please"
"night night. love you."
"play please. all done. wash." (when she's done eating her meal)
"night night. love you." or "night night. bye bye."
"sorry cat." (after she hit the cat and made it run away)
"want food"

Words are awesome.

one, two, three

Adelaide counted to three yesterday for the first time. We've been counting with her when she jumps in our arms and for the longest time she's been saying "two, two, two." Finally yesterday she got it. Now we've got to work on getting to ten. Now it's one, two, tee, fi, six, ten. Anyway, I'm proud of her.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

short film festival and ministry update [in Austin]


Please join us for an evening of hanging out, catching up, and taking part in a short film festival. We’ll show some of Rocky’s team’s films, along with others, and talk about how they are used around the world. There will be popcorn and drinks for all. Hope you can make it.

If you think you’re gonna be there, let us know (512.825.4974 or rocky.conly@uscm.org). If you haven’t decided yet and want to come last minute, please feel free to come.


Thursday, August 07, 2008

Eating Corn

I think this video is hilarious. You're entitled to your own opinion. I love the enthusiasm she's got for the corn and then her "rolling pin" action at the end. Funny kid.

A day in the life of a toddler


Toddlers. With one every day is different.

Some days Adelaide seems ready to take on anything the world has to offer and will leave me in her dust. Others she will cling to me for dear life and want all my attention.

Some days she'll want to sit and read books, "write", or work on puzzles together. Others she will not sit down unless forcibly contained (thank you high chair).

Some days she wants to wear bracelets and headbands, carry around my bag, and try on all of her clothes. The next she takes off all her clothes and then tortures the cats.

One day I stress over whether or not Adelaide has become a young anorexic and then the next I marvel at how much food she can fit in her little body. Why doesn't she like broccoli today when it's all she wanted to eat two days ago? Oh, meal times. This is the most frustrating of all the toddler-isms we face these days.

Ah, that's my life. I love it.

Here's some pictures of my wonderful toddler.

Rocky's mom passed on a bunch of clothes while we were in Louisiana. This unfortunately will be the one and only time Adelaide wears this watermelon outfit. Alot of her shirts these days are becoming "belly shirts" as Rocky calls them. I had fun coordinating her bow and everything; I don't do that much anymore. I think she looks so beautiful and thoughtful in this photo.

Our first attempt at finger painting. It actually went really well. Adelaide kept the "paint" on the wax paper for the most part though you can see she sampled some of each flavor. No need to call poison control however, it's just colored plain yogurt, her fav. Don't worry grandparents. I've got some paintings ready to go in the mail for you.

Ah, corn. You have yet to fail me. Adelaide loves you (as you can tell from the photo). She ate nearly 2 entire cobs like this for dinner plus a salmon patty and a few bites of leftover pizza. Today was one of those days. She ate some strata and an entire mango for breakfast, then 2 bowls of yogurt and applesauce along with some graham crackers for lunch and then finished off with a bang for dinner.

Rocky got these headphones for Adelaide today. She loves to play with our earbuds and we learned (on our roadtrip of course) she'll actually leave headphones on if there's something to listen to. I think the headphones go well with her retro running shorts.