Ducks/?

What a Great Alibi!

So we are sitting at the table after supper being silly and J makes a fart noise. We all giggled and then Paul showed us how smart and insightful he is by commenting with one word; DUCKS. Elsea family will know what that is code for...(grandma E, that is for you;)

Sermon and Prayer of the Church: Trinity VI, 11 July 2010

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity
11 July 2010
Rev. Jon C. Olson ~ Our Saviour's Lutheran Church

As long as you try your hardest to be good and do your best to keep the Ten Commandments, God will accept that as “good enough” and grant you eternal life in heaven. Let me state this another way. Would Jesus have had to come and live a perfect life, suffer and die if God only expected you and I to try our hardest?

This morning’s Gospel lesson is about people who believe that God helps those who help themselves. It is about coming in contact with the holiness of God and demanding perfection. It is a belief system that says that ‘good enough’ is good enough. You do your part and God will take care of the rest and do whatever is beyond your ability to accomplish. As long as you show that you are being sincere, that you are at least trying to do something for God, God will in turn do good to you and bless you. In effect, you and God work together to achieve your salvation.

There's a theological term for that. It's called "synergism," it means "working together." I do my part, God does His part. By combining my works and God’s works my salvation is taken care of. There's just one problem. Synergism is also a false teaching not taught in the Bible. In fact, the Bible teaches directly against it. And if the opinion surveys correctly reflect what people believe is right, this false teaching and belief is pretty popular. Something like 40% of people, who call themselves not only Christian but even Lutheran, agree with synergism or ‘you do your part God does the rest’ kind of theology.

In today's Gospel lesson Jesus flat out rejects and condemns synergism when He says,
Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

Your eternal life in heaven does not depend on your doing the best of your ability and trying your hardest. It does not depend on what you do. That is what the Pharisees whole religion was based on. The Pharisees dedicated their whole lives to knowing and keeping God's commands down to the finest detail. Jesus destroyed their whole way of life and thinking.

For example, you think it's hard to tithe and give 10% of your income in offerings. Most of you struggle to give even 3 or 4%. Well, the Pharisees would not only tithe of their income but of all that they possessed, even down to the herbs they would use to prepare their meals. They tried to keep God's Law perfectly, even making up some of their own laws along the way.

What Jesus teaches us is that we have to do even better than that, otherwise there is no chance of entering the kingdom of heaven. Even the upright and righteous Pharisees don't make it. Even outwardly moral and good church going people come up short if that is the criteria for entering heaven.

In the Old Testament God summarized what He demands when He said, "Be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy." And Jesus Himself taught in the Sermon on the Mount, "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Holiness and perfection are not optional demands. They are what the Law requires. Anything less than that is not good enough.

James chapter 2 makes this point very clearly. It says, "Whoever keeps the whole Law, yet fails in just one point, He is guilty of all of it." It's sort of like a balloon. As it freely floats through the air making many little boys happy, all it takes is only one little bump into that little sharp object. That prick in the side of the balloon causes only one little portion of the balloon to be pierced. And yet the result is that the whole thing pops and is ruined. One hole ruins the entire balloon.
That's how it is with God's Law. Even if you were able to keep all of the Law except in that one area, that one point brings down the whole structure of the Law. Summarized the Ten Commandments expect perfect love of God and perfect love of your neighbor. You can't just say, “a little idol worship won’t offend my God, he’s bigger than that.” Or, “Oh, I did that a long time ago when I was young and foolish; I've gotten my act together now.” Or, “Oh, I was just tired and stressed out and in a bad mood when I lost my temper; you can't hold that against me.” To fail in one point of God’s Law is to fail in all of them.

Jesus focuses on one point in today's Gospel lesson, the 5th commandment, "You shall not murder." I'm sure that among just about all of you here this morning no one has murdered their neighbor. But in God's sight this command requires much more than not killing someone or even not hurting someone. It also requires that you do good to your neighbor and help him in all his physical needs. How often do we all wish we had better neighbors? How often do we not even say hello to them?

Can anyone here this morning do any better than the scribes and the Pharisees? Then we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. That's the judgment of the Law. And if we are trusting in the Law and a spirituality we create for ourselves, then we will be delivered to the Judge, who is Christ, and He will judge us according to the way we judge others and ourself, the Law. Jesus will then hand us over to the officer, who is Satan, and we will be thrown into prison, which is hell, until we have paid the last penny of what the Law requires, which as we have learned, we will never be able to do.

Jesus is teaching us here that we must not seek merely an outward righteousness like the Pharisees, but an inward righteousness before God, the righteousness of faith. Faith that places confidence and trust not in ourselves or our own goodness but in Jesus. As the Introit put it, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped." Only in Christ is there deliverance from the judgment of the Law. For only Christ has performed the Law without fault or failing. Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill (them). (Matt. 5:17) Jesus alone has kept the Law. And He did so for you and me in our place to earn our salvation.

Jesus kept the Law perfectly in two ways. First of all, as true God who at the same time had become fully human, Jesus never sinned, as it is written in Hebrews, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) Not only did Jesus not do the things that the commandments forbid, He also did do everything the commandments demand. Not only did He not murder or steal or have impure thoughts, but He also perfectly loved His Father in heaven and His neighbor on earth, showing compassion, healing, doing good and teaching the truth to all. Our Lord lived a holy life as our representative and our substitute, that our unholy lives might be redeemed.

Secondly, Jesus fulfilled the Law by completing all of the old ceremonial requirements regarding the Sabbath and the sacrifices and so forth. By His holy death and burial, Jesus Himself became our eternal Sabbath rest, cleansing us from our sin by His once-for-all sacrifice. All the Old Testament Jewish rules and regulations found their goal and culmination in the person and work of Jesus. He put all of the Jewish rituals of the Old Testament to an end in His crucified body, that the Law might no longer condemn us. Not only did Jesus live a perfectly godly life in our place, He also suffered on the cross the full condemnatory sentence for our imperfect and ungodly lives in order to restore our relationship to God the Father. Our Lord is now risen from the dead that we might be freed from judgment and given new life and a sure hope.

So it is that the words of Jesus which seemed to be impossible are now, in fact, true in Him:
Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:20)

The sort of faith in Jesus necessary to enter heaven is not to know the answers to a test or to have some intellectual understanding about the creation of the world, or to be able to explain the Holy Trinity. Having faith means to have a living and bold trust that Jesus’ promises are true. To have faith in Christ is to trust that because of Jesus’ righteousness given to us in baptism our righteousness not only exceeds that of the Pharisees but it is complete and holy. Our works do not enter into the picture.

In our baptisms we receive the perfect righteousness of Jesus. In them God the Father has declared us to be holy in His sight. He didn't just demand that you straighten out your life, He gave you a whole new life, the life of Jesus that is full and complete and perfect and everlasting. Through Christ you will enter the kingdom of heaven. To believe and trust that promise is what it means to have faith.
And just in case you are tempted to fall back into your old life of sin and death and the bondage of the Law and say to yourself, "Hey, all that counts for my salvation is what Jesus did and not what I do; that means I can live however I please, right?" To that, St. Paul says this in the Epistle,
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:1)

Which is to say, how shall we who have been freed from hell's prison purposely go back and put ourselves in chains and behind bars again? That's exactly what we've been liberated from! Why would we willingly want to be anywhere near there and risk falling away from Christ and our eternal salvation in heaven with Him?

The old Adam was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be done away with through repentance, that no one should any longer be slaves of sin. By grace we have been given the ability to walk by faith in the newness of Christ's life. We are declared to be dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ. For just as you have been united with Him in His death, you will surely also be united with Him in the resurrection of the body when He comes again. To Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit belongs all worship, honor, glory, and praise, forever and ever. Amen.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Prayer of the Church
Sixth Sunday after Trinity
July 11, 2010

P Having been buried with Jesus by baptism into His death, let us bring our petitions to God the Father in all boldness and confidence:

P Father in heaven, we confess that apart from Christ we have no righteousness. Yet we rejoice that, because Your Son has died and risen for us, in our baptisms You promise that our righteousness is now perfect and free from your condemnation. Because we know the hope that You have laid up for us in heaven, let others see in us a confident faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and a caring love for all those in need. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear our prayer.

P Father in heaven, by Your grace we have died to sin, yet sin continues to have its way with us. Fill us all with a repentant faith that knows we have been buried with Christ through baptism into His death. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear our prayer.

P Father in heaven, guide the delegates and leaders of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as they meet in convention this week. Give them faithfulness to You and your Word and a zeal to confess the Gospel of Jesus’ salvation to all people. Direct them to decisions that bring glory to You, strengthen Your Church, unite us in Your truth, proclaim Your salvation, and show mercy to our neighbors. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear our prayer.

P Father in heaven, Your love unites us with You and with every member of Your holy Church throughout the world. We pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ, especially all congregations and pastors of the Pipestone Circuit, the MNS District and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Give them and us spiritual wisdom so that we may all walk together in a manner worthy of You. Lord in Your mercy,
C hear our prayer.

P Father in heaven, as Your Son showed Your mercy and compassion to us when He went to the cross in our place, give Your loving care to everyone in need. Watch over the elderly and aging, those in nursing homes, and those under long-term care [especially ____]. Give to them a fervent faith in You throughout their troubles, and deliver them from their struggles in the way that You know will best serve their eternal needs. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear our prayer.

P Father in heaven, when You saw us dead in our trespasses and sins, You did not pass by, but came into our world to rescue us. Thank you for the gift of salvation. Thank you for all of Your goodness to us, [especially for (uniting Tim Stotz and Amy Powers in Marriage)]. Give them and us grateful hearts that praise You for Your love and look to You for everything good. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear our prayer.

P Into Your hands, heavenly Father, we entrust our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray; for You live and reign with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.

Party in Heaven -- And Ours Here Below

S's baptism weekend May 7-9. Typically, as soon as Dad E showed up, the temp dropped 20 degrees (hence the cigar smoking in the garage). I missed taking pics of the food (including the 75 extra pieces of fried chicken) and many other picture-worthy moments (like the fam sitting in the biggest hot tub in the world), but here's a few keepers, nonetheless. (The duplicates were ones I couldn't resist including due to interesting facial expressions, etc. They're pretty self-explanatory.)

One more note: S's baptismal gown was made by my great-grandmother (my mother's mother's mother) in the late 1920s. It's been worn by four generations now, a few dozen people, including my grandmother, my mother, me, P, and now S. Pretty cool!

Bringing S Home

Our first few days in early May with our new precious son.

Of Sunset Skies and Singing, Twinkly Stars

Last week (gaaaah! I'm so behind!) we headed west for some church-family hanging-out and fireworks. I forgot the camera and so missed several picture-worthy moments, like:

P riding in friend L's motorized truck (you know, one of the mini ones that seem so popular with tykes now -- the ones where they steer and use a gas pedal as opposed to leg peddling). Anyway, P thought it was awesome! So awesome he wanted to sit in that truck all night, even if it wasn't moving. After a few tears and the sound of the word "cookie," he forgot about the truck. Almost.

The sun setting over a prairie sky, with the breeze whispering in old ash trees, cottonwood drifting by, the corn rising to the horizon. It was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes.

P and L playing with the little popper fireworks -- the ones where you step on them or throw them and they make a SNAP sound. P couldn't stop laughing when they were successful, and we couldn't stop laughing watching him try to step on them just right. He'd do a little dance with his little legs high-stepping.

S sleeping peacefully through every single firework, no matter how big the boom.

Me and P watching the stars come out and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," with P supplying the words when I'd stop (he does really well with this, and many other nursery rhymes). THEN he started singing his own version of the song -- the first time he's really "sung" for us -- softly crooning "Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle" with this sweet smile on his face.

So many priceless times! Thanks, H family, for inviting us (and for all the sweets!)! And happy belated birthday, America.

SMMO

Pics of S shortly before birth (prego pics with a few of P sprinkled in) and after birth (read later to find out why we didn't have a camera for the first few hours after he was born), including visits from his godparents, Grandma E, and big brother P!

Whew! Again, at last.

So we've blown through the 2010 summer solstice already, which means in cyber-time I'm sickeningly, SICKENINGLY overdue for posting. Then again, people who actually read this already know what's been going on the Olson household in the last fifty-some days. A short list:

-- SMMO, our latest, beautiful-est gift from God, finally arrived on Friday, April 30, at 12:51 a.m. He scream-cried for five minutes upon breathing oxygen for the first time and hasn't really cried since. I'll post later (ha!) on more of the details, but right now you should know that the best part about that night/morning OTHER than seeing and cuddling S was eating peanut butter toast and drinking ice-cold apple juice at 3 a.m. There's NOTHING like extreme labor pain for making everyday food taste ambrosial.

-- S's baptism took place on Mother's Day and a fine time was had by all, except the Devil, who howled and gnashed his rotten teeth at seeing a child clothed in Christ's righteousness. The rest of us enjoyed each other's company, lots of fried chicken, fresh fruit salad, and the biggest hot tub in the entire universe.

-- We four traveled roughly 2000 miles on a monster road trip three weeks after S's arrival and learned that little boys can be excellent car riders but not car seat cleanliness freaks. Before the trip: 1 year = 1 soiled car seat cover (you guess what the soiling came from). During the trip: 5 days = not one, not two, but 3 soiled car seat covers (and lots and lots of laundry). Lovely to see family, though!

-- P's 2nd birthday just this last week! Can't believe our little boy is already two! We'll blink and he'll be driving the car (wait, he already did that last Sunday. J lets him drive the car between church and home. We got a little too close to curb parked cars for my comfort). In the meantime, he'll practice on his retro-chrome-decked tricycle, which we wish we could fit on.

I've greatly missed writing on here (though, obviously, not enough to make me lose sleep until now). Here's to (fairly) regular blog updates from now on!

A Little While. Early Labor 1, 2, and...3?

Last Sunday's readings (Easter 4) in the one-year lectionary included this reading from St. John, chapter 16.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy
16 "A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me." 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, 'because I am going to the Father'?" 18 So they were saying, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about." 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

I heard J's sermon on the above text on Sunday and knew--as he did--that God never does anything by accident (including timing certain readings with certain life events of certain congregants). That being said, I'm getting a little tired of waiting during this "little while" for S to show up. At least Jesus never fails; we've had several--well, not failures, in the last days. Just false starts, so to speak.

Friday afternoon and evening (April 24) I began experiencing continuous back pain--sometimes a sign of labor. I got excited; I took a bath; I walked a few miles with Gma E. I went to bed hopeful, as did J (who gets so excited about a backache? Expectant parents, that's who). I woke up Saturday morning, and the pain was pretty much gone. I was bummed, but hey! We were still one day from the due date!

Sunday afternoon I woke up from my pretty-much-required pregnancy afternoon nap because I was experiencing back pain. It was definitely more intense than Friday's. I also noticed that I was contracting practically continuously (hard belly that never relaxed). After a few hours of this, I began thinking this might be IT (that is, ACTIVE labor). I called the midwife, who told me to wait an hour and if the pain continued, I should come in. I was rocking back and forth while I stood, or walking, or sitting for 30 seconds and standing up, which my mom pointed out was what I did when I was in labor with P. So we left for Sanford, got into triage at about 11, and spent an hour and a half walking around, seeing what would happen. In the wee hours the nurse (in consultation with the midwife) said I WAS contracting every four minutes, but the peak of the contractions was lasting about two minutes, which was why I felt like the contractions never stopped. Basically, I wasn't dialated enough for them to accept me--UNLESS I wanted to be induced. We had told Steph (the nurse) when we arrived that we wanted to experience a natural birth if at all possible, and with this in mind, we decided to stay in Sioux Falls (by this point it was about 2am) and go to my scheduled appointment on Monday morning. In the morning, the back pain woke me up again but subsided before my appointment, at which we found that I'd dialated a little more (to a 3 with 75% effacement), but again not a whole lot. We were crestfallen, to say the least. We decided to go home and wait.

Fast forward to today. I woke up due to contractions--the more predictable, peak-and-valley sort, and started timing them at about 7:30. They were five minutes apart. We called the midwife who said to come in, which we did. We saw her at about 10am, and were crestfallen--AGAIN--to find that I was still a 3 at about 75% effacement. She recommended we take a bunch of walks, eat a light lunch, and see what happened. So we did. Mall walking--with a nice, distracting stop at Old Navy--followed by a lunch in which J was convinced my contractions were coming every 4.5 minutes, followed by an hour long walk in fresh air, followed by our current stop at Barnes and Noble--our second stop here in four days. We hadn't been here for months, maybe even half a year, before that. I figured I'd catch up on blogging and fill in those who want to know the silly details of S's progress toward using his lungs and crying (and finally showing us his face so we can kiss it!!).

Needless to say, I'm feeling impatient, frustrated, and annoyed--not the least of which is self-directed, because I know a zillion other people are experiencing much, MUCH more stressful things at this time (and have before). So who am I to complain? Even the contractions, which are stupidly painful, aren't enough to make me a zombie yet. So with that in mind, I commend the following list of thankfulness for this experience:

-Good health for me and S. S has been terrific in all of this. His heart rate has been steady and strong, he's still moving at a healthy rate, and basically he's never shown any indication that he NEEDS some help being born due to any health risks. As his Aunt J says, he's like his Daddy -- taking his sweet time. :)

-The time I've had with J. Despite the let-downs and frustration, we've had time together to talk, to walk, to be quiet together. He's awesome.

-Support and prayers of many family and friends.

-Excellent health care. I truly can't wait to actually get admitted to the hospital -- the L & D unit and the Birth Place are like an exclusive spa. Pics to follow whenever we're actually there.

So there you have it -- early labor updates! God willing S will appear sometime today, or early tomorrow (hey, nine hours of five minute contractions have to get us somewhere, right?), and all of us, will be like the woman Jesus talks about: "[When] she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you."

Oh, right. That's the last (really, the first) thankfulness: that Jesus is with us, and always will be, in all of our waiting.

Zero. T-minus-zero hours. I'm going to be pregnant forever.

Last Sunday, post-church, with P. My hopes for delivery were higher then.

Today is S's "due date." And here I sit, putting together budgeting info for May, contemplating getting ready for church, and wondering what will happen tomorrow to the nifty widget that so accurately keeps time on S's time in the womb. Will it show a big fat "-1" tomorrow? I'd be more curious if I wasn't so convinced--again, for the second or third time this week--that I'm actually going to be pregnant forever. This isn't a complaint but rather a statement of reality (c'mon, humor me a minute): everyone descending on Pipestone for S's baptism in a few weeks will just have to hang out and B-B-Q without him, because he's staying a bump. Despite my odd conviction, J and Mom/Gma E think that S has dropped in the last day: in M's words, "Before, you had a little shelf. Now you're more egg-shaped." Awesome. And maybe I'm nesting, too, since I actually got out of bed before 10am today (thanks, P, for the banshee-like shrieks to let us know you were awake. On the upside, he's awfully smiley today. Even more than normal. Maybe he knows something I don't. Or maybe he appreciates hearing God's word the way a little child does...)

Winging and Biz-Biz

P LOVES swinging. He can say "wing," and he calls it that, so we'll just call it "winging." He also loves playing "Ring Around the Rosey" with Gma E and Daddy, and for whatever reason he calls it "Biz-biz." No pictures of that; just use your imagination.

Labor--and Life--Perspective

We just enjoyed an afternoon visit from Annetta L., a lovely lady from church. She enjoys sitting on our front porch (in fact, she gave us the handcrafted wood sign that adorns said porch in the spring, summer, and early fall that says "Come Sit On My Porch"), but today we sat around the kitchen table because a fine April shower is falling outside and the preternaturally summer-esque days of earlier this week have melted into cool, more seasonal weather. She's in her mid-80s and has lived an amazing life, not in the Hollywood sense but in the everyday vocationally blessed life that God gives each of us. She comes from a family of 15 (isn't it incredible that our freak-show fascination with families like the Duggars is merely a few generations removed from families like Annetta's?), and she and her husband had 9 children within 10 years. She told us about when she birthed her daughter Darlene and the doctor said, "It's a girl! But there's another one coming," and then son Daryl appeared. Annetta said, "If I hadn't been lying down on the table I would have fallen over." Talk about a way to find out you're expecting twins! Annetta's family didn't have running water or indoor bathrooms when the kids were young--and of course, no disposable diapers--and frankly, when I hear stories like Annetta's I am more and more convinced that my life is cake. She graciously said that the world is different now, but I can't believe that life itself is harder in a world in which we (meaning average Americans) never worry about fresh water, toilets, whether or not we've got enough food, etc. I don't mean to belittle the exhausting work that motherhood with conveniences can be like; in a few weeks (or less) I'm sure I'll be in tears from constant breastfeeding, laundry, cooking... the especially intense early weeks of new babyhood (plus an adjusting toddler). But I hope I remember when those moments come how easy I really have it. AND, as Annetta so gently and subtly shared, how fast this time goes (see precious P birthday pic from the last post).



J on our porch, back around when P was born.

Our (first?) Dual Post

It's 11:38pm and J and I are trying to think of something creative to post together for our blog. We'd talk about S, but he's still chilling out in my belly, and P's sleeping beautifully, and the weather's still summertime awesome (but who talks about weather but old people or strangers or people who don't know what else to talk about?)... so with that, J's come up with an evening hymn stanza for you to enjoy.

Someday.

Okay.

My loved ones, rest securely,
For God this night will surely
From peril guard your heads.
Sweet slumbers may He send you
And bid His hosts attend you
And through the night watch o'er your beds.

Now Rest Beneath Night's Shadow, LSB #880

Relaxation and Exhaustion, P style.

P really knows how to relax. Here he is a few days ago during his afternoon nap. Coincidentally, he also adopts this pose frequently in his stroller. (During our wonderful cruise after Christmas with family last year, fellow cruisers enjoyed this very visible manifestation of his ease. It translates into English as, "Life is good.") It also shows that despite his close resemblance to his mommy, he is, in fact, his daddy's son (because daddy likes to relax this way, too).

P also knows how to burn energy at incredibly high rates, as he did today. We went to Sioux Falls for Mommy's check-up (2 cm. dilated! YES! I'm guessing Wednesday or Thursday--okay, HOPING for those days--for S's arrival) and our twice-a-month shopping rampage. P made it through the doctor visit, lunch and some stops at the mall, and three grocery stops, all the while contributing to our projects (holding peanut butter in the cart, watching Cars on store TVs, watching trains (real ones and model ones), and now that we're home he's been busy building with his Duplos, setting his matchbox cars on the bookshelf, reading books, running around with Gma E (whose presence for the last days has been priceless, especially since she runs after P when I can barely move my fingers), and singing Wee Sing songs. Oh, and pulling copies of school work off of our computer printer for me (he hears the printer, runs from wherever he is into our room, and hands me the papers so nicely. The printer's two feet from me and keyboard, but no matter). I suspect he'll fall asleep tonight in the same pose we enjoyed the other day -- because who sleeps better than people who've had long, full, productive, fresh-air laden days?

FYI: I intend to cap this day by watching a classic flick that, for some reason or another, I've wanted to watch close to both P and S's due dates: Smokey and the Bandit. I'm not sure what a car chase and Jackie Gleason have in common with very pregnant women (or at least ONE very pregnant woman), but that's that!

The Little Throne, Part II.

SUCH a big deal. Here's the official throne portrait, sans user. P has now, in the last few days, begun to tell us "Wet" unprovoked and actually done his little sprinkle in the throne BEFORE his diaper gets soiled. Amazing. Truly a miracle in the making.

Blurbs

I know: people hate gushing. But J deserves a public embrace for his lovely post from the other day. The man is incredible--not perfect, but certainly the perfect man for me. He sleeps behind me as I type this, his patience proven again by his ability to put up with my occasionally nocturnal turns.

I hear thunder outside. Though this might seem commonplace to many of you, I associate thunder with summer--which is what our recent weather has been like. I'll take it, and take it, and take it. Along with the numerous contractions I've been experiencing for the last hour and a half. AND I hope you enjoy the new Babystrology widget here; I know, it'll be pointless very soon, but isn't it COOL? Sorry, no more gushing.

The Little Throne

Not that I think everyone really WANTS to read about bathroom trips, bowel movements, and other bodily functions best left in the can where they belong, but we are very excited to announce that P has sprinkled into his little throne three times in the last two days. It's been hilarious--he laughs the entire time, so what can we do but laugh?--and exciting. A long, long time ago I thought by some great miracle P could be potty-trained by the time S arrives. I know that won't happen, but it sure is exciting that he's catching on to big boy habits before the new pooker starts adding his own excrement to the Olson collection. Now, seriously -- aren't you glad you read this?

I Love My Wife

I want everyone to know that I love my wife Emily with all my heart.
As we enter into the last few days of our marriage with one extrauterine baby
I want her to know how special these 21 months have been as a family.
May we continue to be united in marriage by the blessings bestowed upon us
through THE Bridegroom.

Gentle Sunshine Sunday and P's Two Cents

4-11-2010

Here's my first attempt to add some very current pictures of P -- let's hope it works! (If so, I've finally gotten to the point where getting pics to family is "easy" -- that is, this takes less than five minutes. This, suffice it to say, AFTER J took 30 minutes to add pics from our camera to Picasa (if I would have done it, I'd have taken an hour. I am SO DUMB with this stuff.) Anyway, I'm still holding out hope that adding pics here will get easier -- and you all will benefit in the long run.

We had a nice weekend -- M family over on Saturday night, along with their new yellow lab puppy Brinkley. P calls him "Binky." I think the nickname has already stuck. Today we enjoyed an uplifting church service and then spent the entire afternoon with the B family in Fulda (Dad D and Mom J) -- dinner followed by the community theater production of "Anne of Green Gables" in which not one, not two, but six B offspring took part. And four more awesome B kids were at home with D and our P, who slept the entire duration of the play. All the B's did terrific, and we greatly enjoyed the relaxing time both watching the play (and me reminiscing about fun productions) and visiting with the B's. We also met JB's parents and marveled at their experiences -- J's dad is a retired pastor who was an assistant pastor for a time in Stamford, Connecticut (a skip over from Norwalk, where our J vicared!) and J's mom is a German-speaking Ukrainian by birth who last saw her parents at age 6 during WWII, managed to immigrate to the U.S. at age 18 in the mid-1950s, and generally has lived through enough hardship and heartbreak to put us to shame (I'm leaving out lots of incredible details), and yet radiates warmth and kindness. Amazing. God gives perspective in so many ways.

So we moseyed home in the late afternoon sunshine and chilled on the porch for awhile. P decided to organize his cars in several places (see pics above) -- SUCH a typical activity for him. J and I were discussing evening plans (you know, the kind that don't address what actually NEEDS to be done but rather what we WANT to do), and I threw out a few movie ideas, which J shrugged off. Then I said to him, "Well, what other happy movies can you think of to watch?" And after a pause, P looked up from his cars and said simply, "Ning-ning," his word for "Lightning," the main character in Cars. J and I just started laughing. P is so much smarter than we give him credit for -- and it's slightly unnerving at times like these to realize that he understands 85-90% of what we're saying because he throws in his two cents. Of course, when the Little Diplomat saw us laughing, he really pressed his case and rattled off the names of the other Cars characters -- "Doc," "Wee-ja" [Luigi], "Ma-ma" [Mater... I try not to take this personally :)], "Darge" [Sarge] -- as he promptly went in the house and sat on the couch, expecting us to put in the movie right away. Maybe he WILL be a lawyer like his Uncle C. Thank you, Pixar, for expediting the argumentation education of our son at his ripe old age of 21 months. And no, we didn't actually watch his selected movie but another Pixar flick -- which he actually loved. Maybe we're going to move beyond Cars someday!

Blog Name: Forgiven Olsons

This is my first post on our blog called Forgiven Olsons.

Let me just say that the title of our blog is entirely appropriate. If you have another name for our blog would you please post it!

Waiting for Godot... actually, S.

Well, we're two weeks and three days out from the big due date, and all of a sudden I feel like we're actually going to meet our lovely S pretty soon. For the record, I'd like to predict that he'll look like his daddy (in the face, J, in the face), he'll be a pretty laid-back boy, and he'll idolize his big brother (who will LOVE him). Any other predictions from the peanut stands?

New Life. Wow.

The Olson's had a great Easter -- early, early morning; subdued and joyful service celebrating Christ's resurrection; delicious church breakfast; FUN Easter egg hunt (see below); more good eating (smoked ham with orange-honey glaze, sour cream mashed potatoes, green bean bake, Jello, strawberries and bananas, deviled eggs, choco-chip cookies courtesy of Gma E and P!), naps almost all around. Then we--well, J--moved on to the next big project; moving furniture and tearing up flooring in preparation for Monday's carpet install. From Jesus triumphing over death to 80s-era marblized carpet kissing the dust. Fun!

So P completed his official first Easter egg hunt (last year he wasn't quite old enough or conscientious enough to participate) and he LOVED it. Gpa E and J hid the plastic eggs around the living room and dining room while we drove to get some milk. P didn't even want to take off his coat when he walked into the house; he went right for the eggs and put them in his basket in the middle of the room. After a few deliveries to the basket he spontaneously adopted a kind of half chicken walk, half scoot (we'll just call it his hunting pose): arms behind his back, hands flpped up, his torso bent, feet shuffling, neck stuck out. He thought he was something, and so did we. Now Daddy will adopt the hunting pose and P will get a big grin on his face and copy him.

One last P thought, related but unrelated to Easter: P found our copy of A Child is Born early this week, and we looked at it for a few minutes before he lost interest. [Quick ad here: This is an amazing, amazing book--awesome photography that leaves no doubt that babies are people from their first moments.] Anyway, then P found the book again a day or so ago and wanted to "read" it. He sat on my lap (what's left of it) and we looked at pictures of babies in utero, and I'd say, "P, this is what baby S looks like." P looked very carefully and turned pages, and we got to the end, and I said, "Pretty soon you'll get to see baby S like this baby [pointing at the book]." He watched very carefully, and after a moment of quiet, he said, "Wooooooooooooow." It was perfect--unprompted and so appropriate. We couldn't say it better ourselves. So here's to new life, Easter, meeting babies face to face.

Ducky, Dirty, Rockets, Wrenches... and Jesus

I realized in the last few days that one of the most common questions I get about P from family and friends is about his language development. Wait, that sounds way too technical--really, most people are just asking, "So what's P saying these days?" You can see a few of his latest words above (he articulates the first two with excellent diction--the way he practically spits out the name "Doc" from the Cars flick so clearly--a movie and an obsession fit for another post. The last two are understandable but also toddler-garbled, making for adorable moments. He's so proud of himself!).

P "babbles" a lot, too, which basically means he's practicing speaking in sentences. Sometimes we actually understand him, like tonight at dinner when he identified some cake for dessert and said quite distinctly, "I do [eat] cake." "I do" seems to be a preface to pretty much everything he says. It's been incredible to see and hear his comprehension and articulation in the last two months--some weeks we've noticed a new word or words every day! He obviously understands far more than he can say, which means he can follow directions excellently AND throw frustration fits when he can't say what he means.

Along with the language explosion, P made big strides today when he took his first nap on his "big boy" bed! We received his twin mattress set yesterday and made it up with his cute-as-pie sports-themed Crayola bed-in-a-bag. He loved it immediately! What he didn't love today was learning--after about twenty confrontations with Daddy and Mommy (I'll let you imagine what those entailed)--that nap time still means staying in bed (you know, the way he had to when he had bars around the mattress). He kept getting up and trying to play (with toys that were put away) and reading books. Finally he gave up and slept for about an hour and a half! AND he didn't fall off the bed! We anticipate a few more days of adjustment to nap time and then we'll go for nights. Wish us luck!

I won't posts in the next few days as we head into the end of Holy Week. What a great time of the church year--our favorite by far! J and I and P hope you enjoy a blessed Easter as we celebrate our redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus (or, as P says, "Tsussus." Kind of like "Cheez-Its.") Who knew Matthias Grunewald's gory painting of Christ's crucifixion and processed cheese could be connected -- kind of like us sinners and God.

On Birth and Miracles

Okay, I'm realizing that this blogging thing is becoming more of a cathartic experience for me and less of a post-about-family thing that I originally intended. Therefore, I'm seriously considering starting another blog for my mind-rambling in order to keep this one focused on our lovely family. But before I get overly ambitious and allow this one to peter out, I'll just combine my two loves (random commentary and my wonderful fam) here. So, for those interested parties, please consider reading several terrific blogs by (mostly) Lutheran women that I enjoy. I read this one fairly regularly, and Rebekah, especially, alternately tickles me and inspires me. Her latest longer post dealing with induced labor and links to another awesome blog have reminded me how incredibly, incredibly blessed we were that P was born naturally. I think I've been incredibly naive about the fact that he was induced but somehow I (and he) avoided the knife and all the complications it can carry. I understand c-sections can be necessary, but all too often they're overused for, frankly, selfish and/or practitioner-protection reasons (NOT with the mother and child's best interests in mind). Anyway, P is a wonder, and so is S (bless his little yet-en-wombed heart). As Anne Shirley (or some screenwriter put it), "Babies are never common. Every one is a miracle."

Irresistible Sicky

The sun shone today in SWMn, and though P and I didn't venture outside (it was very windy--Plains kind of windy, like I almost got knocked over grabbing the paper off the porch this morning--and cold), the warm rays streaming through the windows are such a pick-me-up after this long, long winter. AND after the last few days in which P has progressed from uncomfortable coughing numerous times in the PM (partially a cause for my wacky sleep patterns) to fever, doctor, antibiotics, runny, RUNNY nose and general discomfort. P puts me to shame. He plays and talks to himself (when he doesn't have a semi-regular bout of coughing and discomfort crying) as though his life couldn't be any better. While I mope and complain about, well, anything (especially in these last weeks of prego-ness... yikes, it's a good thing God is so forgiving), P lines up his cars on the couch with his characteristic chirping, smiling at us, excitedly dashing down the hall for Seals on the Bus, eyes puffy, nose running, voice sicky-thick with head-cold fuzz. So incredibly pathetic-irresistible. How can we NOT love a kid who's so happy when his body feels rotten?

On a side note, I moved his bookshelf and books and toys into his "new" room today. It was quite fun, and he enjoyed it (the sunshine is GREAT in that room, especially in the morning)-- my next goal is to actually post pictures of this and other fairly recent occasions on this blog. I can't just write about this stuff forever; I know I love pics, and so do you, so please bear with me, gentle readers. And have fun imagining what a sunshiny room looks like. :)

Forming Habits

Well, it only took me half an hour to edit a picture from our computer, upload it to Blogger, and figure out where to put it on this blog so it doesn't take up the whole page. Yes, I am certifiably NOT knowledgeable about computers (a fact I really, truly, need to rectify, for many reasons). But enough on that.

Today J awesomely let me sleep until 9ish. My sleep patterns have been awful for the last two days, so I dutifully took my half a midwife-sanctioned sleep aid last night and promptly disappeared for almost twelve hours. I can only just now tell that it's completely worn off. Despite my sluggishness, P and I managed to: get clean, take an afternoon nap, sing songs (both of us);
read multiple stories (Machines Go to Work and To Grandmother's House We Go and Seals on the Bus are current--that is, today's--favs), clean out the pots and pans from the cupboard, build Duplo structures, organize Matchbox cars on the couch, open up the forbidden multimedia/TV stand several times, play with tennis balls in the empty back bedroom (more on that later), color, eat two afternoon snacks, go to church, clean up toys and take another shower with Daddy (trying to ward off a chest cold)--(P, not me);
read the newspaper, play with and read to P, write cards, clean the kitchen, make homemade beef vegetable soup for supper and for leftovers, do laundry, go to church and eat cupcakes (post-church, not IN church), finish up class prep and emails for tomorrow, and of course, blog (me, not P).

This blogging thing is therapeutic already -- most days I feel like a complete failure because I think I accomplish so little. Today was one of those typical days... and I see I got SOME stuff done, despite sleeping so late.* If I list all of J's accomplishments, though, he put me to shame (just a few of his feats--and I am not exaggerating: teaching his last confirmation class for the year and giving each of his confirmands individual absolution--one of his favorite times as a pastor; feeding, dressing, and changing P; preaching a sermon at our last Lenten service; prepping for Holy Week; calling scores of people to schedule visits; AND spending a few afternoon hours framing a bedroom in the basement and staining trim. Pregnancy is easy-peasy, man.

Speaking of, I'm trying to enjoy these last weeks prior to S's arrival for many reasons, one of which is knowing that I'll struggle to, say, chop an onion with any degree of planning in about a month. I remembered today making some kind of meat lover's pasta dish after P was born and distinctly thinking I felt like I was "back" to a routine (it was September; he was born in June). Maybe we'll get back to "normal" habits more easily this time. In the meantime, P is getting habituated (gotta stick to rhetorical consistency here!) to his new room, though he doesn't know it. Tomorrow we move his books and his toys in there. Next week his mattress arrives. And J and I try to keep up with the house and our lives and prep for another life-changing time. And as we've already learned, kids are anything BUT habits, anything but routine and predictable.

*And yes, I know "carrying a child at 35 weeks gestation" is an accomplishment, too. And I don't want to short S -- he's terrific already. But I often forget, despite the basketball projecting from my body and the extra weight, that he's sharing my energy, too. I have a lot of respect for moms who've done this (thank, thank, thank you for proving, billions of times over, that God built us for this special work).

A Start, At Least

After several hours of reading, writing, occasional but irking Facebooking (a topic fit for another post), I've realized I've just got to knuckle down and start a blog for our loved ones who 1) don't get the fuzzy familial updates you deserve, and 2) seriously lack the pictures of Olson youngsters you most certainly deserve. So here goes nothing: my attempt to finally be a more consistently loving daughter/sister/niece/family member/friend by placing our lives in an accessible place for you.

Just one more note: I still love phone calls, and don't plan on using this as an excuse to not jabber away at you whenever I can. I know, I know -- you're all so relieved to know I won't stop talking anytime soon.