Bum Genius?

Well, I bit the bullet and purchased cloth diapers. I've been going back and forth about it since I was educated by our friends the Dominguez-Hultgren family. I did know that cloth was much better for the environment, but I have this distinct memory of my mom wearing a bandana, bent over the toilet washing out my brother's diapers (I was 4 1/2 when he was born). I also vividly remember thinking to myself " I will never do that". However, these days things are much easier and cleaner and involve no bending over the toilet, or so I'm told. The ones I chose BumGenius supposedly adjust to all different sizes so they grow with the baby, plus they have handy velcro. It is an initial investment, but the estimate is that with disposables, you'll spend $2000 per child so $300 is looking good. Wish me luck, I guess!

Random thoughts

So, I'm less than a week from my due date and getting pretty ready for the whole thing to come to a conclusion. It's not that I'm too uncomfortable, but it just feels like life is a bit on hold. We have so much to do, but have come to a bit of a lull and it just would be convienent to have the baby soon (are you listening, God?).

We've run into several opportunities to have discussions about death with Bridger recently. We got him a beta fish the first week we were here and it died within a week. Then today on the way to check the mail (my parents have a long driveway) Bridger found a tiny baby bunny dead on the road. Thankfully it was not one that my brother or Ryan picked off with the 22 for eating my mom's plants. He was fascinated by it and, of course, every question is followed by at least three "why's" and it gets a little difficult after awhile to explain things.

Why isn't the bunny moving?
The bunny died.
Why?
God made the world so that people and animals die. (1st theological error here, God didn't exactly design it that way...)
Why are there flies around it?
That's another amazing thing that God created, some animals and insects eat dead animals so their flesh goes away. (this started out a good sentence, but then it just went downhill)
Why?
Well because it gives some animals food and then there's not dead animals all over the place.
Can I touch it?
No.
Why?
It's already started to decay and you're in the middle of your snack so your hands would get dirty.
Can I step on it?
No.
Why?
Well, because that's not a respectful thing to do (?)
Where are the bunny's mommy and daddy?

Okay, so you see how this begins to go. At some point I went into the difference between animals dying and people dying and stuck my foot in all kinds of theological errors. Seriously, I become a heritic explaining these things to a 2-year-old, but thankfully he doesn't seem to disturbed by death. According to my grandma, you get kids a dog to teach them about death. I guess living in the country will do you about the same!

Gone Fishin'

We've been out fishing a few times this week. My folks have a camper about a hour and a half away by several lakes that we like to frequent and there's also lakes around their house. June's a great time for fishing because it's not too hot yet and the fish are still active. Bridger's repritoire now includes blue gills, small-mouth bass, large-mouth bass, perch, crappies and a sea gull. That's right, on his first cast yesterday a gull came down and swooped up his minnow and got hooked. You don't really want to hear about what had to be done to "free" it. No walleyes yet, as he is sad to remark. He's starting to catch on, though he spends a lot of time playing with the minnows and nightcrawlers. When he his paying attention to his rod, he likes to reel it in and push the button to drop the line back in. Despite his lack of prowess, a few days ago in the boat he caught five fish before the rest of us even had a bite. Must be a natural.

A few moments for hobbies...

This is a quilt I made for my youngest cousin Emily's graduation this June. It's a scrap quilt, which was really fun to try. Emily is a free spirit so I felt alright going with something a little less conventional for her. Next project is a wall-hanging I've been drawing out for over a year now to celebrate Joshua's life. I also just picked fabric for Bridger's bed quilt last week. If you couldn't guess, it's going to have an animal theme.

On the Farm

I wanted to throw in a few illustrative pictures of what we've been doing around here the last few weeks. My parents live on an acerage 9 miles out of town which makes the place a little boy's dream. We're outside most of the day and I am thankful not to have the busy Brooke Road to contend with anymore, though we do have some crazy UPS drivers in our driveway from time to time so Bridger doesn't quite have the run of the place.
We planted a garden and Bridger got a standing sandbox and water table. The hose and rocks have also been favorites. Ryan's been mowing the lawn and finishing my parents' basement--rugged work after all that cerebral stuff. I've been enjoying walks and sitting out on the patio swing with Bridger. Even though Ryan and I feel stressed with fundraising, ordination and a ticking uterus, life seems slower out here.

Thoughts on Leaving

So, I've been meaning to post a few thoughts on leaving our home of five years, but I keep thinking I'll gain some emotional insight that will allow me to encapsulate my experience. This insight continues to allude me. What I do know is that we came to Philadelphia without knowing a soul and the first few months were very lonely as I was at an awful job and we were not yet really connected with New Life. Plus, we had entered the post-college state where the ease of meeting people grinds to the pace of a sloth, especially when everyone you know has kids and has a total of two hours per month available to hang out.
It's amazing to think that five years later we have left so many relationships that feel like they've been life-long. The last week we were here, our dear friends Lise and Heidi threw us two going-away parties, even though their schedules were packed. These were such wonderful events where we were able to say goodbye to so many people in a memorable way--there were many words spoken to us that we will never forget. And now that we're away and looking to move on to where we will be starting from scratch again (only this time with our out-going little Bridger to help us along) we are encouraged by our friends out in Philly. Keep a spare room open for us to come back and visit!