My Shoplifting Son

Clothing shopping w/ twin 13 month old boys is really not a good idea ever, but it is made a little easier if one is equipped with a large container of goldfish, teddy grahams or some other snack and a friend! My wonderful friend, Kate, met me at Old Navy yesterday and graciously strolled my boys around the store, entertaining them with songs and funny faces. The time came, however, when every song she could think of was sung, every funny face made twice and the snacks had to come out.

Here's the thing with snacks and shopping with twins. The snacks serve as a countdown to the time you have left to shop. When the snacks are all gone, you are all done shopping. That's really all there is to it! So, we were nearing the end of the snacks, but I wanted to try on just two more pair of jeans.

After finishing the snacks, Kate gave the boys their sippies. Tucker's little stopper (the thing that keeps the water from gushing out when tipped over) had come out because he had thrown it so many times onto the concrete floor. But, he was screaming, so Kate gave it to him and just watched as he learned the hard way that the water was going to come streaming out. He grabbed the sippy from Kate and proceeded to dump water all over himself. He looked up at Kate with a stunned face as if to say, "Am I wet? Did I just get myself wet? Did you let me get myself wet?" And then he belted out a very loud cry. With tears streaming down his face and him pulling at his wet shirt, I picked him up and consoled him.

There are several points of no return when shopping with twins. One is the snacks. Once the boys see them, your countdown has begun. The other point of no return is taking them out of the stroller. Once you cave and take them out of the stroller, you're not going to be able to put them back into the stroller without some serious screaming as a result. So, we had passed all points of no return. I knew it was time to check out!

With items in hand, I made my way to the cash register. Kate was holding Tucker, and Judah was sitting contentedly in the stroller. He's got his thumb, his best bud, to console him when the world is just not right! :) So, I begin to check out and Judah notices wrapped, fleece blankets within reach. As anyone who has kids knows, if something is within a child's reach, it must mean that it needs to be touched and played with. So, Judah began to pull at the blankets, and they started to hit the floor. I picked them up, but didn't bother moving him away from the blankets because this entertaining little game was keeping him amused while I checked out.

*Note to anyone not yet a mom: All ideas about how your kids will or will not act in public or how you will or will not cater to their temper tantrums in public is out the window once you actually have children in public.

Amazingly, I walked out with a bag full of clothing and was on my way! I thanked Kate profusly and began to part ways with her. I made one last check in the bottom of the stroller to make sure I had everything I came with and what I bought and discovered a little extra goody: a wrapped, fleece blanket! :) My son had managed to knock one right into the bottom of the stroller, and I would have brought it home had I not checked. I laughed as I walked back into the store to return the merchandise my son had just lifted, and thanked the O.Navy staff who were more than gracious and obliging to me, the stupid mom trying to clothing shop with 13 month old twin boys!!!

Pushing the Sleds

Judah's newest favorite thing to do is to get behind our captain's chairs with the boys' feeding seats strapped to them, and push them around the kitchen as if he were a football player behind the sleds. I'm betting if I sat on one of them, he'd still be able to push it; he's so strong!

Things I Love About Judah & Tucker

I love...

• the way Tucker stands up in his crib to say 'good morning' to me when I walk through their door to get them up and ready for their day.
• that they thump their one leg on the crib mattress while falling asleep at night.
• the 'old man' gait with which Judah walks...very slowly, cautiously, yet beaming with pride that he's taking steps.
• the way Tucker walks around with his hands clasped together behind his back like he's a military officer keeping the troops in line.
• the way they both laugh uncontrollably whenever they're tickled.
• how Judah snuggles into my neck when I pick him up out of his sleep before I go to bed.
• that Tucker can sleep right through Judah's wailing but as soon as he hears my ankle crack, he jumps right up out of his slumber to see what is going on.
• that Judah sucks his thumb just about every chance he gets.
• the sound they make while eating their bananas in the morning.
• that they sign "please" or "more" whenever I prompt them to ask politely for food.
• the way they run their mouths over their crib rails as if it was a cob of corn.
• when Tucker makes his fish face.
• that they wrestle with each other when put in the same crib.
• the smell of their breath.
• their slobbery kisses (even Judah's, who ends up biting many times).
• the way they peek around the corner of the kitchen while sitting in their feeding chairs whenever Papi comes home or the Abuelos have come to visit.
• the way they "dance" whenever I put some music on that has a beat.
• the way they stick their faces right up to the red lights on their basketball hoop.
• how they sit so differently in the stroller when I take them for a walk, i.e. Judah laid back with his thumb in his mouth, usually hanging onto the side with his other hand and Tucker sitting straight up looking from side to side, not wanting to miss a thing.
• how they light up when other kids are around.
• the way they'll pick food out of the pocket in their bibs once I've removed the tray as if they have found a hidden treasure.
• that Judah will give nearly anyone a smile if asked for one.
• how Tucker sits puzzled for a few moments after he's hurt himself as if to say, "did I just bump my head?"
• how wonderfully different they are

Response to Hurricane Katrina

Like many of you, I have been glued to the recent news reports of Hurricane Katrina and all its devastating aftermath. My thoughts have turned many times throughout the day to what I've seen or heard, and there has come quite an emotional response. Last night after watching some news coverage, I commented to my husband that watching those scenes was like watching the wrath of God and mercy of God converge in one place and on one selected group of people. He reminded me that the greatest picture and most moving display of God's wrath and mercy converging was at the cross of Christ. This was a good reminder to me to stir my heart's affections for that amazing display of God's glory, His mercy and grace at the cross of Calvary where my Savior died that I might have my greatest need met.

Providentially, I have been reading through John Piper's Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. This morning I read a chapter entitled The Waves and Wind Still Know His Voice. I wanted to post the whole of its contents here, but I am not technologically savvy enough to figure out how to do that. So, I want to encourage those who have the book to read that chapter and be informed on what a biblical, God glorifying response to our nation's recent tragedy looks like.

Many of you are praying and may find yourselves, like me, perplexed at times on exactly how to pray, what to pray. I am going to simply type out the prayer Piper writes at the end of this chapter for those of you who do not have the book but may wish to pray this prayer for those enduring the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

O Lord, the suffering in the world is so widespread and the pain is so great! Have mercy, and waken the souls of suffering millions to the hope of some relief now and unsurpassed joy in the age to come.
Send your church, O God, with relief and with the word of the Gospel that there is forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ and that no suffering here is worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to the children of God.
Protect your church, Father, from callous thoughts about calamities that leave millions destitute, and protect her also from cowing to the critics, like Job's wife, who cannot trust the wisdom and power and goodness of Christ in the midst of inexplicable misery. Oh, help our unbelief. Incline our hearts to your Word and to its assurances that you "work all things according to the counsel of your will" and that "no purpose of yours can be thwarted" and that you are doing good and acting wisely in ways that we cannot now even dream.
Keep us in peace, O Lord, and forbid that we murmur and complain. Grant us humble and submissive hearts under your mighty hand. Teach us to wait and watch for your final and holy purposes in all things.
Grant that we would "rejoice in hope" even when present circumstances bring us to tears. Open the eyes of our hearts to see the greatness of our inheritance in Christ, and send us with tender hands to touch with mercy the miseries of the world. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Finally, let me also include a link to John Piper's website where he spoke to the Tsunami disaster last December. His comments on it, I believe, would apply to the most recent disaster in our Gulf Coast. It is entitled Tsunami, Sovereignty, and Mercy.