After talking about it for exactly two months, Leva finally got back to the beach.  Here’s a typical conversation:

Us:  “Hey Leva, guess where we’re going?”

Leva:  “?”

Us: “The BEACH!  In April!”

Leva:  “Da BEACH?”

Then later…

Leva (to anyone she happened to encounter, on any occassion): “Guess WHAT??”

Anyone: “What?”

Leva:  “We goin to da BEACH! In April!  In two monss!”  (eyes huge in her description, eyebrows raised, smiling and nodding emphatically)

Then to one month, then to four weeks, two weeks, one week, five days, two days…  We’d go to pick her up in the nursery at church and the ladies would say “So, I heard about a hundred times that you’re going to the beach in April.”  Leva learned how to find the last friday in April on a calendar and would point at it, so we knew when we were going.  She learned what a sand castle was and waves and buckets.  She bought two new suits and sunglasses.  This kid was prepared for the beach.  We arrived late for dinner on Friday night, set her up for Chick Fil-A at the bar, and put her to bed.  In the morning, we took her over to the glass doors that look out through the lanai to the beach, slowly opened the curtains and her expression of disbelief and suprise was so great, it brought tears to my eyes.  “THE BEACH!  THE BEACH!  WE GO MAKE SAND CASTLES!!!”  She raced to put on her suit.  We spent a whole week there, with twice daily visits (before and after naptimes), and she and Geert ran themselves ragged.  In the waves, on the sand, finding shells, chasing birds, dumping buckets, wrecking any sandcastles we could build fast enough (before she could wreck them).  And Geert, there’s a boy born for the beach.  He’d crawl off and into the waves if you weren’t watching him closely enough.  Both kids had a fabulous time and made our progressive sleep deprivation completely worthwhile.  We can’t wait to go again.

Pictures here: DA BEACH!

We, as the parents of young children, do not have our act together yet.  Although we have grandiose visions of what holidays and excursions will be, and make vague plans, we don’t do enough legwork to make our plans come to fruition.  It’s kinda sorta fun, in a way, the haphazard way we run around in the mornings, throwing clothes on half naked kids and ourselves, making half breakfasts, and arriving everywhere late, but as the kids get older, i think they’ll need just a teensy bit more organization.  We could shower the night before.  Or do the ironing the night before.  Or hide the eggs the night before.  Set the coffee pot the night before?  But i think, in our chronic exhaustion, we savor our evenings for that hour or two of quiet and irresponsibility, and each other’s uninterrupted company, and we procrastinate.  And so far, we’ve gotten away with it.  Leva had a great Easter.  Geert, despite his lack of sleep (and now day #2 into sleep dysfunction catch-up) had a great Easter.  Brad and I had a great Easter.  Maybe by spending those precious moments together and reflecting on what exactly we’re celebrating, rather than getting caught up in the race, we’re hitting the nail right on the head.  Maybe we shouldn’t change a thing.  Or maybe I really should at least shower the night before.

Pictures: Happy Easter!

Tech-savvy Leva has mastered another hand held device.  I know people joke about this all the time, but i have to say i was floored when i watched her open the iPod, select the main screen, select the videos section, and then pick out which Baby Einstein video she wanted to watch.  She can also find her own music (and lately has a taste for Pavarotti).  Anyway, her latest device is the camera.  She can turn it on, point and shoot, and as you’ll see, over time, is even starting to get desired subjects within the view finder.  Watch her go from accidentally hitting the button, to us dodging around trying to get IN the picture, to real purposeful photos!  Oh, the composition!  The light!

Leva photos

Is blogging already becoming a thing of the past?  Does anyone out there still track their friends and family this way?  I’m noticing a definite slow-down in not just our own blog, but those we follow as well.  I remember thinking how novel it was, just five years ago, and what a great way it was to keep track of folks.  And hey, no pressure, come if you want, don’t if you don’t, whatever.  And as it turns out, it’s Leva’s baby book - we’d posted most of her landmarks with either a little story, or video, or photos, and in true second child fashion, Geert is already getting the short end of the stick.  Is it facebook?  Facebook is great for reconnecting with folks you’ve lost track of, like some of my recently found long-lost cousins or childhood friends, and great for casual fun conversation with other friends that i had lost touch with, but facebook is also far more narcisistic.  People get your comments or photos put in front of their faces where they have to look.  I’m not sure i need to know what a girl i went to the fifth grade with is having for lunch.  Facebook has less privacy, ultimately, and less grace.  On the other hand, it’s MUCH better for sarcasm, practical jokes, and cracking me up.  So i guess it’s here to stay.  For now.  like blogs?

You’ll notice from February’s collection of pictures that there aren’t a lot of Leva.  That’s because every time we break out the camera, before it’s even turned on, Leva’s squealing “let me see!  let me see!” and won’t sit still, or smile, or be cooperative in any measure unless you sneak up on her.  Oh Leva.

February photos

I write this post not to make anyone sad, but to cause those who come here to check up on us occassionally to pause in their daily routines and reflect, and hopefully, love a little more strongly today.  A woman I went to residency with in Pittsburgh, a woman I greatly admired for her ability and rapport, lost her youngest son to brain cancer this morning.  He was only four and a half years old.  It’s been a long fight for them - he was diagnosed a few months after turning three, and endured chemotherapy and radiation for a whole year.  Shortly after finishing his course the family learned that the cancer, while stagnated during the treatments, had returned and continued to grow despite it.  They’ve known since October of last year that he wasn’t going to make it and spent the last five months or so wringing the joy out of every second they had together with him and their two older daughters.  They kept a blog called Henry’s Challenge (the link is at the right) written by Tara’s husband, Bryan that is the most poignant, most loving, most realistic and hopeful message I’ve ever read.  For the last year and a half I’ve struggled with the sadness I’ve felt for them, felt more acutely now that I have children of my own.  We never know how long we are of this world, or how long we’re blessed with the company of our loved ones.  Give extra thanks tonight and extra hugs tonight for those you love and live each day as if you knew your time was limited.  And please keep the Scheck family in your prayers that they may be comforted in this most difficult of times.

In honor of Brad’s birthday (it’s Stacy here), I’m posting videos of the kids in all their glory.  They wouldn’t be the great kids that they are if it weren’t for the greatest dad in the whole world.  We love you!!

Hmmm, there’s got to be something someone wants to hear about, but now that the holidays are over and it seems too late to put posts up about something that happened three weeks ago, there’s not much to write about.  That’s a long sentence.  See?  We’ve lost the touch.  So here’s a pretty picture of Leva, and feel free to look in the gallery for some Christmas and recent pictures.  We’ll try to be more interesting in the future.

Our church did a fantastic new activity this year - A Night in Bethlehem!  The Mill Run campus was converted into ancient Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born.  There were Roman centurions paroling, shepherds, shops that were open, and of course, the stable and manger.  The folks stayed faithfully in character - the baker asked us if we had been to the stable (she had heard a baby had been born), the centurion asked our friend Steve if he was from Babylon, and the potter commented on the bright star.  Leva was a little too young for the activites, but had a good time, and especially loved a new favorite treat - pomegranate seeds!  She went through 3 bowls before I cut her off.  What a great way to teach Leva about the true meaning and history of Christmas, I thought, as I watched her soak up all of this newness, away from the bright lights and commercial bias.  Then Leva went up to Mary, and after admiring “babee Jeeeziz” asked Joseph “Where all the REINdeers?!”

Pics here: A Night in Bethlehem