Beau Knows

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Today is my true love’s birthday.

He’s has a bit of a challenging day - at least he was severely challenged by Jesse well before noon. I’m praying the rest of the day was easier.

Whoever said 2 year olds were hard hadn’t gotten to age 3.

Anyway, we have T-bone steaks and baked potatoes on tap for dinner. And I plan to surprise Beau with a special dessert when I get home.

Love you, honey. Happy birthday!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

1. I gained a half pound last week. I’m bummed, but it could have been worse considering the weekend of food that included my Dad’s birthday cake. Wonderful carnitas in the slow cooker on Sunday, too. And PMS. It’s water weight, right?

2. I sang during our three worship services this weekend. It is always fun, but the worship was awesome for me as well. Thanks, Lord, for giving us a great set of songs.

3. All during the Saturday PM service I looked for Beau from the stage. I found my father, he was manning the MediaShout station at the last minute. Mom was seated in our usual area. But Beau was not there. I was only a little worried because he had laughing said I might not see him there since he was having a challenging time with Jesse when I left for band practice that afternoon.

When I was done singing, I headed around to the foyer to go into the auditorium. On my way I peeked into Jesse’s classroom and he was there playing happily. I asked the friend who was ushering if Beau was in there and she confirmed that he was sitting with my mom. Wha?

And there he was, sitting there as if he’d been there the whole time. “When did you get here?” I whispered into his ear? “Just a minute ago - we’re all right, we were rear-ended on the way.”

Turns out an older couple was out walking their kitten. But the kitten was not on a leash and he decided that he wanted to play in the street. So the car in front of Beau slammed on the breaks to avoid killing the kitty, which meant that Beau slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the car, which meant the car behind Beau slammed on brakes to avoid hitting Beau, and the next car tried to slam on brakes to avoid the collision. But alas the 4th car didn’t stop in time and there ensued the rear-ending of the car behind Beau, which resulted in that car being plowed into the back of Beau’s car. It was dark, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t anything more than a bit of paint transfer.

Until one of the people’s insurance company called and insisted that he take the car to be looked at by an auto body shop. So he did that yesterday and they estimated about $500 in damage. I guess we’re waiting to hear back from the insurance company again before we get the repair done.

4. Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day. Thank you, veterans, for your service to our country. I come from a long line of veterans going back to the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, World War 1 and World War 2 and Vietnam. I’m so grateful for that legacy and I hope that will continue in our family.

We’re headed to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia for the afternoon. We may have a chance to inspect our beef steer. We’ve been told to expect the beef in early December. 300 pounds of beef. Yowsah.

Monday, July 27, 2009

We survived a 4-day weekend without Daddy. It was a near thing at times.

Saturday went well enough, capped by church and dinner out with my parents.

Sunday was super long as I watched the clock all day, waiting for the time to depart to the airport to pick up Beau. He made it home on time and safely and I’m eternally grateful to the Lord for keeping him and us safe while he was away.

I am also eternally grateful for the days alone with my kids. I think I especially benefited from that time with Jesse since I don’t really get to spend as much one-on-one time with him because of Molly Ann. I came to appreciate what a sweet, tender, generous, polite, hilarious, wicked smart, adorable little boy my son is. He is a credit to his dad, really.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

It’s lunchtime in the Speaks house and so far it’s been a full morning as single parent.

We went for a walk - I pulled Jesse in his red wagon and wore Molly Ann. We paused for some playground time during the circuit.

There followed some coloring/drawing with Jesse while Molly Ann napped. Then a quick snack just as Molly Ann woke up.

I fed Molly Ann while Jesse watched some Schoolhouse Rock with me. He seemed intrigued - at least he stayed in the room.

Then when I worked on getting Molly Ann down for her next nap, I put Jesse into his room to play. When she quit the battle against the sleep she desperately wanted, I went in to find him in his tent and ready for his own nap. OK, but I’m a bit alarmed at the thought of no afternoon nap because that part of the day is when he gets the most rowdy.

Lunch was ravioli and he ate enough for two adults. Given that breakfast was ignored, I think he was hungry.

Now we’re waiting for the landlord to arrive - he’s installing our new front door (finally) and also painting the front of the townhouse. Jesse will enjoy watching that, I’m sure.

Molly Ann is sleeping again already after her lunch, too.

So far, so good…

Friday, June 19, 2009

We went to Bull Run Battlefield Park the day after getting home from the Outer Banks. It was pouring rain, so we didn’t stay long. But the tickets were good for three days, so Beau and Jesse went back the next day to explore.

Monday, May 25, 2009

We drove home from the OBX yesterday. The drive was rather uneventful for a Sunday, although we think that’s because it was Sunday of a holiday weekend. Most others will face traffic today instead. We did hit a bit of a back up while still on I-64 south of Richmond. It was just as we came to the exit for Jamestown/Yorktown/Williamsburg and in an oddly spontaneous move, I suggested we take a side trip to see Jamestown. Neither of us has been there and we both have mentioned an interest in seeing the settlement. So we did just that.

It was a fun diversion even with a two year old who was bored with most of it. We realized that we could have toured Yorktown with our tickets, too, but we didn’t want to take that time since we were really just traveling home from the beach. So we talked about maybe taking a long weekend or even a full week to really see the sights in that area. There’s plenty to do - Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, Busch Gardens, and it’s close enough to even hit the beach at Virginia Beach one day, too.

We’ll wait a couple or three years so that Molly Ann is old enough to sort of enjoy it, too but it’s definitely a plan.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Over the weekend, I started sleeping more in the recliner than the bed. It’s just too painful to be completely horizontal anymore, which sux.

Anyway, the other morning Beau said he had this dream about his parents where they had a lion cub as their new pet.

When he woke up he realized that the lion cub’s growling was actually my snoring being incorporated into his dream.

Hilarious.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Beau’s small group is studying Job. He came home last week and shared his befuddlement over the following verse in chapter 11 from The Message:

[ Reach Out to God ] “Still, if you set your heart on God and reach out to him, If you scrub your hands of sin and refuse to entertain evil in your home, You’ll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless. You’ll forget your troubles; they’ll be like old, faded photographs. Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dayspring. Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again; you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy. Expansive, without a care in the world, you’ll be hunted out by many for your blessing. But the wicked will see none of this. They’re headed down a dead-end road with nothing to look forward to—nothing.”

Italics are mine.

Forward to last night when he was starting to read our devotional and then started to chuckle. He said he couldn’t get the thought of the “faded photographs” out of his head - imagining the patriarchs comparing pictures of the grandkids. Old Noah talking about Methuselah’s wallet-full of “faded photographs.”

We were cracking up at the thought.

I think this may be a case where The Message doesn’t really work.

Beau now has Jesse’s tummy bug. It was a rough night in the house. The good news is that Jesse is on the mend - he managed to keep down quite a bit of water overnight and had a very wet diaper this morning. I was relieved to see that. I think Beau will ease him into some food later today.

That is if Beau can manage in the kitchen. He was able to make my breakfast and then went upstairs to throw up. Poor guy.

I feel terrible to be at work while they suffer, but Beau insisted that I come in. I have to save the leave and I have a ton of work to do.

If you would, we appreciate your prayers. Also, I cannot get this bug - not only would it be bad for baby, but with the diabetes it would be worse.

*sigh*

Friday, February 06, 2009

It’s a long story, but it all started with my 95 year old grandmother being in the hospital with pneumonia a couple of weeks ago. When she was released, she came up to stay with my aunt while recovering. She was supposed to go home on Sunday in order to go to her follow-up appointment with her doctor on Monday. There were offers from my dad, my uncle, and Beau to drive her home.

Then the other day, Mom called to see if Beau would be up for taking her today (because he won the lottery to take her) because she’s done with being away from home. So we worked out the details and I’m with Jesse at my parents’ home today while Beau drives GGma home. While he’s down there, he’ll visit Red Hill with GGma (where she’s a docent) because the job he opted not to apply for is still available and she thought he might like to visit and maybe meet some of the folks. And then he’ll drive back tonight to have dinner with all of us and we’ll head home.

Our day at Marmie’s has been fun. I’m trying to work, but we left my laptop in the car overnight and it took a while for it to warm up enough to boot up. Then I realized I forgot my powerpack and I’m sure my battery didn’t have a whole day’s supply. That turned out to be correct - once she booted up, I was told the battery only had about an hour in it. Marmie was planning to take Jesse out while she ran errands, so we all headed out together. I went home to get the powerpack and the library and came back to get back to work. They arrived shortly after. We had a quick lunch - Jesse is now napping, I’m working, and Marmie is heading to her office to work as well.

It’s been a nice Friday so far.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Remember the disaster that was Beau’s combo anniversary-birthday gift? I don’t think I updated to let ya’ll know that I finally did pick up the finished product. I was actually able to pick it up before Beau’s birthday and I presented it to him that night. I think he was pleased with the final result. I know that I am very pleased with how it turned out ultimately. That said, I will never get anything framed at Michaels ever again. My apologies for the flash and lamp glare on the glass. There was no good way to get a clear shot of the picture without the light on or the camera flash.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Two birthday things today.

First, today is the day we celebrate the birth of my beloved husband. I’m ticked that my flight was cancelled and that I have to redo that whole thing this afternoon. But I’m very happy to get to spend part of the day with Beau and Jesse. My love, I hope you know how much you are loved and that today is special for you in the midst of the daily grind.

Second, my c-section is scheduled for March 30 - Beau’s Sis’s birthday. So both of our kids will share birthdays with Beau’s siblings, which is kind of cool. So Jaynee, plan on coming up sometime that weekend before.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

I mentioned in conversation (I think with my parents) a little while ago that I was going to search for a stay-at-home-dads support group for Beau. He sometimes struggles with the SAHD thing, understandably. My encouragement about his Dadhood is not sufficient to sooth him at times. And the product of his hard work, Jesse, sometimes hinders any encouragement (as toddlers will do when they act like toddlers).

ME: I think Beau needs to connect with other Dads in his situation, to share their feelings and to encourage one another.

I think someone said something here, but then the lightbulb lit in my own head.

ME: What am I saying? Men don’t share feelings. They’d talk about sports and cars and whatever else men talk about.

At that Beau looked at me and said, “And I don’t talk about those things either, so I guess the support group idea is out.” Or words to that effect.

True enough - Beau would much rather talk about political philosophy or theology or the latest non-fiction book he read or something more deeply intellectual.

Why he married me is mystery at times since I’m all about pop culture and TV and would rather die a fiery death than read non-fiction. (Not really, but you know what I mean.)

Anyway, I just want to say to the interweb masses that Beau is a fantastic husband and father. He may not be doing what he is wired to do (be the full-time homemaker), but he’s doing it pretty well regardless. I’m well taken care of as his wife and know that I am deeply loved and Jesse is a happy, well-adjusted, sweetly natured, mostly obedient little boy (he is almost 2, after all) who loves to learn about everything around him. His Daddy so patiently takes every opportunity to teach - one example being from lunch today when Jesse held out his hands and said, “Mess!” I handed him a napkin to play with and left it at that. Beau then came over and patiently showed Jesse how to actually use the napkin to wipe his little hands clean. And do you know that Jesse would grab that napkin each time he felt he needed to wipe off the “mess” and did an increasingly great job at it?

Beau, you are a great father. Never doubt that. As I’ve told you countless times, when Mother’s Day comes and all of the Mom’s get accolades for their hard work at caring for and raising the children, you have to understand that you are in that group of loving parents. I love you and couldn’t ask for a better father for my precious children. God has blessed our little family with such a Godly, loving, and faithful Dad.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Beau has an excellent post about Church and State Habits. An exerpt:

It seems to me that, like Esther, we each have a job to do, even if it’s not in a palace. Of course, voting in a little booth is a lot less scary than Esther’s approaching the king to speak the truth. But although our involvement in politics is limited, can our involvement be anymore unrelated to God’s plan than Esther’s? Can speaking the truth be secondary to “kingdom” work?

Go read the rest and share your thoughts with Beau.

Friday, October 24, 2008

I asked Beau if I could tell this tale on him. He doesn’t think it’ll be funny to anyone but us, but we’ll see.

We both wear Breathe Right strips on our noses at night. I, because of my pregnancy congestion. He, because of his general nighttime congestion. With Beau there are two factors to consider: 1) he thinks it is wasteful not to try to reuse the strips, so he tries to reuse and 2) he often has his head under a pillow at times in the night. So over the past couple of weeks, when Beau has awoken he has found the strip to be anywhere but on his nose. Once he found it on his underwear. Once I found it stuck to the comforter. This morning he said, “Guess where the nose strip ended up?” I had no clue. “On my forehead.”

I busted out laughing.

“That’s not the best part, though,” he continued. “I woke up at one point and it was on my finger, so I put it back on my nose.”

I continued to laugh hard enough that I started to cry. That’s priceless.

On my own night weirdness front, my dreams continue to be bizarre. The other night I dreamed that Beau and I were good friends with Todd and Sarah Palin. In the dream we were just hanging out with them. Then last night I dreamed that Sarah Palin and I were hanging on the Straight Talk Express bus, but we never talked politics. We talked about babies, just mom to mom. It was great.