Ethan’s new second favorite show (favorite will always be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) is Curious George. I heard Jack talking about it when he was over last week, and now Ethan can’t get enough of it. Well, apparently little George is rubbing off on Ethan because this is what I caught him doing this morning when he didn’t know I was watching…

And something very strange happened in our house this week – we fed a baby cheese. I know this sounds like a completely uneventful thing to most, but we’ve never given a cheese to a child before…ever. Clay and I have gone back and forth on what’s the “right” thing to do with Rachel since she doesn’t have any signs of food allergies. Do we let her eat what normal kids eat and tell Ethan that he can’t have what she’s having, or do we just let her have things Ethan can have to avoid any confusion down the line? Right now we’re leaning toward somewhere in the middle. When I’m cooking I alter lots of things to make them Ethan friendly, so obviously Rachel will just fit right into this. However, soy milk is ridiculously expensive so we’ll opt to give her whole milk when she’s ready (I’m thinking we may need a bigger refrigerator just for milk – soy for Ethan, 1% for us, whole for Rachel). Short story long – it was so weird and rather exciting to be tearing up little pieces of cheese for her to eat. I’m sure that first birthday party will be interesting when Rachel’s eating cake and ice cream and pizza and Ethan has a sandwich and fruit snacks.

Today marks 7 years that I have been Mrs. Starr – my how the time flies.  I read a statistic today that the average marriage in America lasts seven years – how sad.  I feel like we’re just now getting the hang of this!  My wonderful parents kept the kids Friday afternoon/night and Saturday morning while Clay and went for a little getaway to the Gaylord.  We saw a movie Friday afternoon, ate dinner, saw some aerial acrobatics, saw a band playing there, slept really late Saturday morning, ate a wonderful brunch, and came back to reality.  It was a much needed getaway – my first time away from Rachel and she did great.  She even woke up Saturday morning with her first 2 teeth!  (I’ll try to get pictures as they poke through a little more.)  If you live around here and have never been to the Gaylord, I would HIGHLY recommend it – even if you’re not spending the night. 

Clay – I wish I could invent a new way to tell you how much I love you, because it’s more than that.  I adore you.  You bring out the best in me, and I really do thank God for the blessing of you.  You make me laugh (a lot), you provide for our family, you spiritually lead our family, you are a wonderful example to Ethan of how a husband should treat his wife and how a father should treat his children, you play with the kids like no one else can, and you love me unconditionally.  I love that we can go away for a night and have tons to talk about that doesn’t revolve around being a mom and dad, but just a husband and wife.  My favorite time of the day is when you walk through the door from work (okay, so part of it is because I’m ready for some adult conversation, but it’s mostly because I’m just excited to see you).  While our annivesary “celebrations” have changed a bit from year to year, I’m already looking forward to next year.  You mean the world to me.

Since this has worked out so well, it’s a good thing I basically forced you to take me to lunch that November day in 1998.  Funny how God works things out! 

In honor of the occasion, here is a picture of the first scrapbook pages I made of us – complete with our first picture in 1998 at Clay Kennedy’s graduation.
 

What a day.  Ethan and Rachel were both up several times through the night, so I woke up a little groggier than normal.  Ethan had a low grade fever this morning, so we decided to lay low today.  Rachel took a whopping 20 minute nap due to what I think is teething.  I think I can feel something poking through the bottom gums…so stay tuned.  My mom came over for lunch because her electricity went out – random.  Good thing I made that batch of chicken salad yesterday!  Ethan didn’t eat a bite of lunch, but rather asked to go to sleep.  He slept for about an hour and a half and woke up rather happy.  However, about 20 minutes later his fever spiked to around 102 and it was downhill from there.  We did a breathing treatment because he started wheezing, took off his clothes and got the fan, gave him another dose of Tylenol, and he went back to sleep on my shoulder.  Rachel woke up from a marathon afternoon nap (praise God for small blessings) in a pretty solemn mood.  She was content to play and Ethan wanted to listen to his Wheels on the Bus book on CD (I’m pretty sure he only likes it because the girl has a British accent).  Clay came home and provided some much needed relief, and I actually caved in to the fever and crazy day and got my son a sno cone for his dinner.  Yes, I’m serious.  But we did end the day with a bang – I pulled out the new pajamas I got for the kids to get Ethan excited about taking a bath…and it worked!  Got a few cute pictures in their somewhat matching pjs.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring…

E: Mommy, where’s Addi?

Me: She’s at her house.

E: Where’s her house?

Me:  In North Carolina. 

E: Where’s North Carolina?

Me: It’s a long way away, but we’re excited because Addi is moving to a new house in Texas!

E:  In Texas?

Me: Yes, in Texas.

E: (excitedly) Just like my yellow Dinoco Tex!  (This is the newest addition to our Cars collection)

I’m accepting the tag from Ginny and Tracy, so here goes:

Here are the rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I have to get out of the house at least once a day. Even if it’s just to the gas station to get a drink, or the post office to mail a letter that I could just as easily mail from my house.

2. I LOVE checking the mail. As sad as it sounds, it’s one of my favorite times of the day. I wait until the kids wake up from their naps and Ethan and I will race to the mailbox. And I also can’t stand the thought of the mail sitting in the mailbox overnight. I HAVE to check the mail every day.

3. I’m horrible about checking my voicemail. I know several of you are nodding your heads right now and rolling your eyes, but it’s a “task” that I hate doing.

4. One of my favorite vacations with Clay has been to Branson, MO.  While this is typically a destination for the slightly older crowd, we had a blast seeing the shows, at Silver Dollar City, the musems in town, etc.  I hope we can go back soon and take the kids!

5. I, like my SIL, love watching college football. One of my favorite things is having a game on all day on Saturday with the windows open.  And when I can’t watch the games on TV, I’ll check ESPN off and on all day to see how different teams are doing. 

6. I read magazines (all magazines) from cover to cover.  Even if I’m not interested in the article, I still read it.  I even read the editor’s note at the beginning. 

7.  I never ever eat the last bite of anything or drink the last drink.  I really don’t know why I do this, but I just don’t like the idea of that last bite, so my plate will go to the sink with one more bite of everything (unless Clay is stil hungry and then he’ll eat the last bite for me).

8.  When eating french fries, I sort through them first and weed out all of the ones I deem to be “unfit.”  If they are too crisp, too limp, too brown, or just don’t seem right, I’ll throw them away.  By weeding out the bad ones first, I can then be content to enjoy the ones left in bag. 
And Tracy, I ran with your idea of asking my husband for his list of my randomness.  Here goes:

1. I have to fold towels exactly the way my Mom folds them. If Clay folds any towels, I’ll undo them and refold them the “right” way.
2. I’m terrified of thunder – TERRIFIED. I even hate the idea of thunder.
3. (Apparently Clay thinks this is just hilarious) I thought Samwise Gamgee’s name was Sam Wisegamgee. If you haven’t seen the Lord of the Rings you won’t understand, but seriously, what kind of name is Samwise anyway?!? (I guess another random thing is that I really like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Clay and I will watch them several times a year.)
4. I love bananas but hate anything banana flavored – sno cones, runts, fruit puffs, pudding, bread – you get the point.
5.  I really don’t like talking on the phone – I would much rather talk to someone in person. 
6.  I love Don Williams.

I’m tagging Susanna, Erin, Tiffany, Emma, Emily, Lesley, Kat, Ronna & Amy. 

Clay and I are in a leadership course at church that is led by our preacher and his wife.  The course is designed to teach future leaders in the church about the different aspects of leadership.  We had a session this afternoon, and we were discussing the book Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald.  The gist of the book is that we often have our outer worlds seemingly in order with calendars, Palm Pilots, schedules, etc., but very few of us actually have our private (often spiritual) worlds in order.  We, as Christians, in today’s society aren’t spending enough time in study, prayer, rest, and the renewing of our minds.  While it was all incredibly pertinent and interesting, God put something on my heart while we were discussing the part about feeding our minds through reading and intellectual discussion.  One part of this chapter talked about a missionary who had a very debilitating stroke that took away his speech and most of his motor skills.  However, he was not discouraged because he still had his mind. 

For years now, I have felt sorry for my Aunt Ann (she’s actually my great aunt).  She has incredibly severe and painful arthritis, breast cancer, has already beaten cancer once, has been through knee replacement surgery, and the list actually goes on.  I have felt so sorry for her because she has all of her mental capacities and is incredibly sharp, but she can’t really do anything because of her physical limitations.  But she has never once (at least not to my knowledge) considered her physical state as a limitation to her Christian walk and influence.  She continues to attend worship as often as possible – even though it might take her half an hour just to get from the living room to the car.  She continues to devour the scriptures – searching for new insight and meaning.  And I realized tonight that I have had a very limited view of an active Christian life.  God does not need our physical bodies or physical strength to help us grow, and we’re never too old to learn from His Word. 

Unfortunately my great aunt and uncle don’t have a computer and therefore won’t be reading this, but I pray that she knows how much I admire her and appreciate her example of a dedicated Christian life. 

Sorry this is a day late…

…hope you have super-sonic hearing!

…we have Rachel Ryan Starr weighing in at 17 pounds, 5.5 ounces, and measuring 26.5 inches long! I took Rachel for her 6 month appointment Friday and was very pleasantly surprised at her weight gain and overall growth. She’s a perfectly healthy baby, and was a charmer for the doctor. She, of course, got some shots, and that has had her out of sorts since then. But, we’re managing and I think we’re past the worst of it. Just about everywhere we go people make comments about how she looks big for her age or what a big girl she is (they don’t say it mean, but she is a bigger girl), because we didn’t get these comments with Ethan. But looking back at his 6 month stats this week, I was shocked to realize that he was this EXACT size at 6 months. Here’s a little comparison:

Ethan at 6 months

Rachel at 6 months (we just moved her to the inflatable bath and she loves it)

Thursday evening we took advantage of my parents’ neighbor’s pool and took the kids swimming. Even though it was hot, we had a great time and Ethan even went under water a couple of times (this is the same kid who freaks out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT when we wash his hair…seriously…every night).

We spent last weekend with Clay’s family and had a great time. We went to the Fort Worth Children’s Museum Saturday afternoon (along with half of the metroplex) and saw the new Star Wars exhibit. It was much cooler than I thought it was going to be. We made dinner Saturday night and watched a movie, they all went to church with us Sunday morning, and then they all had to go home after lunch Sunday. Unfortunately, the batteries on our camera were dead and our charger broke, so I’m relying completely on Randi to send some pics. (R – no pressure there!)

Then Sunday night we had some of the youth group over to play Wii after church and had a great time. It’s hilarious to me that we had a bunch of girls over and they all wanted to play video games.

And this morning I attempted to have the kids’ picture made together for the first time. Let’s just say it wasn’t very successful. I thought I might have a little trouble getting Ethan to sit still, but he was perfect. Little Miss Rachel, however, had other things on her agenda this morning: crying, eating her dress, spitting up, crying some more, looking behind her, etc. Out of 73 pictures, I managed to find 1 (yes, one), that was good enough to buy…and it was only of Rachel. Sigh. We have another appointment to try again next week – maybe the afternoon will fare better. If I can get over to my mom’s to use the scanner I’ll post the one I chose. By the way, upon the recommendation of Nicole, I went to Portrait Innovations for the first time and LOVED it. There’s no sitting fee, and I got a 10×13, 2 8×10s, 4 5×7s, 4 3.5×5s, and 4 sheets of wallets for a whopping $9.95. And they print them out right there so I don’t have to go back and get them. Will definitely be going back there.

So there you go. I feel like we’ve done some other things, but it’s all a blur at this point. And if I can manage it, I’ll post my What is it? column tonight. I don’t know if I can do two posts in one day!