My Curly-Q...

This is how Maddy woke up this morning after going to bed with wet hair! Last night's humidity really did a number on her.

All I can say is I'm so thankful it appears her hair is going to be naturally curly! It has been my fear that she would grow silky straight hair and desire her mom to be able to wield a curling iron in the years to come. Since my hair has always been curly, I never developed the skill many take for granted...adding curls. I have no idea how to properly use hot rollers, a curling iron, etc! If these pictures are any indication, it looks like Maddy's hair will curl itself!

A Literal Pain in my Butt!

Four weeks ago today, our good friends Ben and Rebekah invited Dan and I to go mountain biking. Ben has recently taken a great interest in the sport, and Rebekah, his devoted and loving wife, has decided to get into biking as well to spend time with her man. We were thrilled to have an excuse for an evening out and Dan was excited to return to riding, something he hasn't done in awhile. There was only one problem...

I don't like mountain biking. I know this to be true. I had several bad experiences during summer camp as a teen where we were forced to go on rugged trails through the woods, attempting to balance our bikes on tiny logs over deep ditches. Quite frankly, the sport freaks me out. I'm all for biking on nice, paved trails. I enjoy the workout. But throw in some loose gravel, protruding roots, and rough terrain, and, well, I'm politely deciding to cling to life.

But everyone was so convincing. Dan sacrificed his helmet for me. Rebekah offered her old bike. They said the scenery was beautiful.

And it was. Despite the fact that I am out of shape and was frantically trying to keep up with my more experienced counterparts, I was beginning to enjoy myself. Ben and Bekah only took us on the intermediate trails, God bless 'em, even though they usually enjoy the more advanced.

Until I hit the root. My bike lurched, the seat came up and popped me square in the tailbone. It was the sensation of hitting your funny bone...not so much painful as just intense. But I was o-kay.

Or so I thought.

Four weeks later, I still can't sit down. Later that night, I was racked with pain and Dan (you'll not find a better husband, I'm convinced) was logged onto WebMD, trying to console me.
"Laura, even if it is broken, there's nothing we can do. The muscles around it will hold the bones in place. Here's a Motrin and an icepack."

Of course it would happen to me, out of everyone! Here's to the adventurous spirit...and hoping I can one day sit again without pain!

Question of the Week...

Since I've themed this blog after the freedom of questioning, I've decided to tackle a different question every week. I'd love to hear your take on each; some will be serious, some downright silly.

I'm getting a late start, but, hey, it's a holiday week :). So here it is:

What do you think the purpose of prayer is?

I know, starting off so light and easy! But this question arose recently during a conversation with good friends who had a very close call lately with a family member in a serious accident. They prayed, their family prayed, everyone they could remotely call on to pray, prayed, and the person has truly made a miraculous recovery.

Thank you, God. And we are thankful to be on this side of the question. But the question remains nonetheless.

Because you see, in the next bed at the very hospital that nursed this individual back to health laid another person. Also very sick. Also a serious situation. And people were praying just as hard.

But this person wasn't getting better.

How do we explain that? I understand that God has a master plan that we cannot understand. So what is the purpose of our prayers, then, if the plan is set? Or is it? Are the prayers to change us instead?

No right or wrong answers, just interested in what you think. Next week, I promise the question will be somewhere along the lines of if you like creamy or crunchy peanutbutter!

All my love,

Laura

Crazy 8...

I have a confession to make.

I care way too much about what Madalyn wears.

I'm not sure where this obsession stems from, but there is something inside of me that doesn't want her running around in stained, pilly, or faded clothes. To redeem myself from complete shallowness, I will say that I justify my OCD care of her clothes (you should see me with the OxiClean and Shout spray...it's scary) by telling myself I obsess to preserve her things for any future children we have, and also so her clothes can be a blessing to others as we share them. Another confession...

I'm a bit of a label snob.

I pick through garage sale and Mom-to-Mom sale abundence for the Gymboree, Baby Gap, and Lily Pulitzer treasures. I scrutinize each item for stains and signs of wear, rejecting anything that looks less than new. I am an accomplished e-bayer who hunts for labels like Baby Nay and Baby LuLu that an unsuspecting mom is selling in mint condition.

But I am not a big spender. So I was thrilled when Gymboree announced it was starting another, more budget-friendly store called Crazy8.com. And this store, dear reader, just yesterday had whole outfits for under two dollars. I had item after item in my online shopping cart...things like sweatshirts for .79 cents, one-piece boy outfits for my nephew for $1.89.

Then I went to check out, and my online shopping cart emptied itself of nearly all my bargains. They were already sold out, just in the time it was taking me to shop. I thought bad words in my head.

So join me if you dare, to find amazing deals in this appropriately named store.

Do Butterflies have ears?

"Do butterflies have ears, Mama?" came the tiny voice from the pink bedroom.
"Do dolphins have ears?"
"Do strawberries have ears?"
"Do queens have ears?"

So the questions continued coming, flowing out of Madalyn's two-year old mouth and mind at a quizzical pace. She was flipping through a typical baby alphabet board book, where each page has a different letter symbolized by images. She was picking them at random, taking for granted that the C page contained a cat that clearly did have ears (c'mon, you can see them right in the picture) and the Z page had a zebra who seemed to be showing his ears off with pride. But that strawberry picture representing S, well, it was hard to tell if the red fruit had ears hiding beneath the leafy top. Butterflies have antenna...do those count? There are indentations on the side of a dolphin's slippery head, but are they, in fact, ears?

I'm not completely sure why this toddler quandary was so touching to me. Maybe because it was the first time I was asked some rite-of-passage parenting questions, like "Why is the sky blue." Maybe it was the pride that my baby now knows the name of every single animal, fruit, and amphibian in that board book. Her questioning was precious, innocent, charming, and...challenging.

I have gone through so many changes since Dan and I married on July 29, 2005 (one of them being that I got married!). My questions have gotten harder as I've matured and watched the lives of my close friends, family, and myself get complicated and complex. I'm trying to catch up with the newness of being a mom and wife, and my biggest questions are for God.

Please join me as I try to discover again truths that once came naturally. Hear my story, let me hear yours, and let's enjoy the beauty and simplicity of questioning together.