CRASH!

That's all you hear at our house right now. Little feet running as fast as they can, then a HUGE collision, then hysterical laughter.

They have been playing different versions of this game for months, but this is by far the rowdiest. They each run (ride) as fast as they can while pushing (driving) a toy, then crash into each other at top speed. I'm not sure at what point I should consider this officially out of hand. It occupies them without bloodshed (so far) so I'm pretneding like I don't hear the ruckus. We had people over for dinner the other night and the wife looked slightly concerned but was too polite to say anything. Look at Walker's face in the top picture. He's never looked happier. I don't know how Harris got knocked to the ground but there weren't tears involved so I didn't investigate. Sometimes it's best not to ask questions.

Since the weather has been cooler, sort of, we've been hitting the park pretty often. Does that little boy look energetic here???

Harris dressed himself.

I had to laugh the other day. Usually I put Walker in a stroller or insist he hold my hand when we go pick Harris up at school. For some reason I let him roam free one day and he charged ahead of me in normal Walker style. Several people saw him and commented that, "He's on a mission!" What was funny is that his normal way of getting anywhere. From the time his feet hit the ground each morning, he's charging full steam ahead. And making him "hold my hand" is really not the correct term. What is actually happening is that I'm gripping his little wrist firmly and he's squirming away. Sometimes he uses his free arm to bat at my hand to try to shake loose. I am so afraid he's going to attempt to twist free, break his arm, and I'll suddenly look very suspicious to ER doctors. Let this blog be my witness, I am only trying to keep that boy out of harm's way!

So Tom and I made a decision recently that lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. We're not finding out the gender of the baby. The longer this pregnancy went on, the more I remembered some of the reactions from telling about Walker.  I was starting to have so much anxiety about finding out, then finally realized the anxiety had nothing to do with the gender. The anxiety was about people's reactions. If it's a boy, I would hear disappointment. And I know that because I've heard that once. A friend has two boys and just had a girl and people had reactions of relief, as if the alternative was awful. I don't want either of those reactions. Ideally, we would find out and just keep it to ourselves, which Tom is capable of doing. I'm not. I overshare about my life on much less exciting news than this, so I can't know or slowly everyone else would too. I don't want to have any resentment towards people over something as joyous as a baby. So when that sweet baby is born, everyone will be excited either way. I feel freedom to just relax and enjoy this pregnancy without that hanging over my head. And we haven't even talked names, which is odd for us. We had boy names picked out from the beginning each time. We have never picked out a girl name or even came close to agreeing on one, even though we agreed on boy names almost instantly. But this time it hasn't even come up. Weird. We'll get to it at some point, I guess.

Our small group has started Crazy Love and I'm really enjoying it! I read the book awhile ago and honestly didn't love it. Really, I didn't like it at all. But it seemed to be a good fit to do this book now and I'm glad we are. Not that I'll still agree with it 100% but even that makes for good discussion, and makes you examine your own views a little more closely. The first two chapters have been so, so good. And really practical. I think, with some books, while I may agree with them, it doesn't make me change the way I live, think, or pray. This has practical ways to live out your faith, all dependent upon prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit, which is as it should be.

And I finally saw The Help a few days ago. I read the book and loved it but the movie really brought the harshness to life for me. Seeing people treat other people in such a callous and uncaring way was shocking. That's not accepted in our society today (Praise GOD!) but there is clearly still racial/religious tension. It's just not politically correct to be so public about it.  I had a conversation with someone awhile ago that claims to be a Christian, yet had so much hatred towards a particular group of people. This person really felt that hatred was justified and wanted to persuade me to feel the same way, citing all sorts of "reasons." That conversation was disturbing to me, because while I knew people were hostile to this particular group, I had no idea someone I associate with would feel this way.  It was unsettling on many levels. While I'm glad our society has advanced from the blatant inequality of the past,  there is still so far to go. I hope the popularity of this book and movie makes people examine their hearts.

  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40