Baby shower with the girls

The gals in my small group at church held a wonderful shower for us. I want to say thanks to them for all their hard work - it truly was a blessing and a really great time to get together with the women in my life that make it special and encourage me on a daily basis. Bridgette, Steph & Carlye gather around. Note the 3-tiered cake creation (made of diapers, baby creams and a large nipple brush) that Jessica made. It was truly a feat and I can't imagine how long it took to construct.
Cressie, Kelly & Kristin sit at the table and sign some secret book I wasn't allowed to see.
Jena, Michelle & Annette posing. Note: anyone who sat near Michelle usually wasn't wearing a pacifier necklace. Why? She has the uncanny talent of not saying the word "baby" as well as pointing out when others do. She won the "can't say the word baby" contest by a landslide.
Brad's mom flew all the way from Little Rock to come and visit. It was really neat to have my mom (far left) and her (middle) with me that night.
I am so blessed to have so many amazing ladies in my life. I am surrounded by so many women who are wise in the ways of motherhood and it is great to have such an extensive source for advice. Not only that, but seeing their love for Christ and the way that pours out into their family life has been really humbling and inspiring.

Family Baby Shower

It took us a long time to finally get around to it but we wanted to share some of the fun we had at a baby shower that my family held for us on Father's Day.
Sure, you could spend the money on swingsets and outdoor toys to entertain the kids but nothing works quite as well as a parked ATV.
The men took it upon themselves to try to prepare Brad for fatherhood through many thoughtful gifts and practical advice. Here we see Brad ready for his first diaper change.
We got so many adorable things for William. Sarah inspected each one closely for us after we opened it (I think she has a future in quality control).

no wonder Mia is so spoiled

Goings On

It has been a busy week in our household. Still hard at work getting the house in shape for the little man's arrival. Converting the guest room into a nursery left us without a place to put our guests, so we have spent the better part of the last month converting our living room into a guest room. We'll post some pictures later. It's really starting to look like a genuine guest room. Just in time for my mom's upcoming visit this week. We haven't seen mom since pre-pregnancy days, so it should be a special, though all too brief, time.

We got to see baby Hohenadel this weekend. Cute, cute kid. They're doing a great job, and we're looking forward to watching their little guy grow up. They were six weeks ahead of us, so that was a clear signal that we are in the home stretch. Time to brace ourselves...

Sweatiest Cities in America

Old Spice (Proctor & Gamble) has released its 5th annual list of the USA's top 100 sweatiest cities. From the press release:

The Sweatiest Cities rankings are based on computer simulations of the amount of sweat a person of average height and weight would produce walking around for an hour in the average high temperatures during June, July and August of 2006 for each city.

Little Rock ranked number 21. Greensboro 47. For a guy who has a propensity to sweat a lot, I sure have lived in some sweaty places.

Great Talk on the Food Industry

Sure, it sounds like an oxymoron. But trust us, this is really interesting, and well worth the 50ish minutes for the speech. It is by Michael Pollan and he delves into where your food comes from. This is NPR's take on it in a nutshell:

He is the author of a book called "The Omnivore's Dilemma," that argues agricultural policy affects everything from the obesity epidemic to global warming to national security.

He essentially looks at what ends up on our plates and how it got there but through a perspective we could all benefit from. Bon Appetit!

Link to Michael Pollan's "Where does your food come from?"
(this is a link to the Word for Word archives where his speech is posted)

Derek Webb on Encores

So true.

HT: Jason D

It's already election season.

Keep them accountable. Make sure they get the facts straight.

Kolstos

Speaking of ______ and Sarah... Our friends Gregory and Sarah up and moved to Kansas City a few months back. All of us back in Winston are missing them terribly, and I have been a lot lately. You don't replace friends like these. But we get to see them in July! Drop by and visit them at their blog here.

UPDATE: They just posted this picture of their dog. Perhaps the funniest picture I have seen in my entire life. (For you Roehrenbecks out there - the picture of Scott not wanting to leave Epcot is a close second. I still get the giggles when I think about that picture.)

Visit from the Buzbys

Our friends Roger and Sarah and their kids were in town this weekend for a visit. We haven't seen them for about a year and a half. It was great getting some time to catch up and to hang with the girls. They're growing up so fast.
In other news, Allison has been feeling super sick with some kind of stomach bug. We're definitely praying for a quick recovery so that she can get back to eating (and feeding William).

The nursery

Well, after much blood, sweat, and tears, the nursery is getting close to being ready for the boy. We still have one more small shelf to install in the closet, and we have to put down the threshold. Other than that, a little decorating and lighting, and we'll be there. Here are a couple of shots.

UPDATE: And major props to Ryan Hohenadel who put in hours of sweat in helping put down the flooring. You're the man Ryan.

wrigley field

Thought we'd throw this picture up of Chris, me, and Ryan (my brother) at Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Cardinals series in April. This was Chris's first trip to Wrigley. (I love the guy licking his fingers on the left.)

mia & neifi

doing what they do best