sicky & soccer

i'm missing isaiah's soccer game this morning. baby girl is super sick...she's been asleep since about 10am.

isaiah's sick too, just doesn't seem to have it as bad. and it's soccer time, so no missing it! isaiah has always been a cougher. when he gets sick, it seems he'll cough non-stop. the last two nights have been no exception. about 4:30am alaythia got fed up. none of us were sleeping. but she decided to do something about it. i heard her say, 'isaiah! isaiah! stop isaiah!' apparently she wanted some sleep and his non-stop coughing was getting to her. in frustration, when he wouldn't stop, she came complaining into our room, begging to get in bed with us. of course we let her in, after all, we weren't sleeping anyway.

but back to soccer. i'm sure this will be the game that isaiah scores a goal. i had been thinking it all morning. but just as they were about to walk out the door matt confirmed my fear, 'you know that he's gonna score a goal today.'

yeah, thanks matt. just make sure you can give me a play by play when you get home!

heat of the summer

so...this is the first time i've been very pregnant in the summer. and i'm in humidity. i've learned this is not really 'the south' here in louisville. but we've got the humidity like it. it's been hot and humid for weeks.

if you are 7 months pregnant, in the hot and humid how do you survive?

-take COLD showers. it will be a matter of minutes before you're hot again.
-don't even bother with make up. before you can have it on completely you will have sweat it off.
-don't dry your hair. steal some of your husband's gel and scrunch it. put a homemade headband on to keep all the hair off your face and neck.
-when you're outside in the afternoon playing with the kids and they get popciles, eat one with them.
-and when you can't take it anymore, come into your cool house, and sit for a while.

today we have the windows open for the first time in weeks. i was sitting on our love seat this morning, and a cool breeze came and rushed around me. i took a deep breath and didn't feel like i was inhaling liquid. i don't know that i've ever been so thankful for cool, crisp air.

over the grave

our church as been working on a new CD for a long time. we've been singing the songs in church for months now. each sunday matt and i leave feeling desperate to have those songs at our disposal. the time has finally come! the CD is titled 'over the grave' and it's all isaac watts hymns redone. totally redone. i know this is all the rage now, and it has been my experience that others say they have redone them, but just add a different tag at the end. let me tell you, that is not the case with this, and you WILL NOT be disappointed.

the release is officially on june 19th, but you can preorder a copy of the CD to be shipped to you on the 16th. the link to the blog will give you all the details. plus you can hear one of the songs now, 'only your blood is enough'.

enjoy. i know you will.

big brother

matt has always talked to isaiah about being a big brother. protecting his sister, caring for her. when we found out that sophia was a girl, matt stepped up his game with isaiah. they now had 3 girls to take care of. he would be 'the brother' and their job had just grown now taking care of 'their girls'. isaiah, in usual fashion, took it as his own, and has been very serious about it. taking his cues from his dad and also stepping up his game.

isaiah will kiss my belly and say hello to sophia almost every day. alaythia has a princess phone that plays music, and he loves to push the button to make it go, and hold it to my belly 'for sophia to hear'. i overheard him talking to alaythia the other day while they were playing, 'now alaythia, you are going to have to be okay if i take a toy that you are playing with a give it to sophia if she needs it. you are going to have to share.' alaythia, the sweet sister that she is, looked intently at him and said, 'okay bro.'

but he's not only started to reach out to sophia, he's become more aware of alaythia and her needs. several times now, when we have been outside playing with friends, isaiah has stepped in, unprompted, to alaythia's defense. a friend had taken her toy she was playing with and took off on a bike as alaythia was chasing after them. isaiah saw what was going on, stepped infront of the bike as it came past him and said, 'give my sister back her toy!' they did what they were told and gave the toy back. similar situations arise pretty frequently and he does the same thing. stepping in on her behalf.

while this alone is enough to keep me going, to add to it, i noticed yesterday that alaythia is catching on. being second youngest in the crowd that is outside, she has realized she has an ally. and a good one. he's big, he's tough, and he can do for her, what she can't do for herself. yesterday she found herself in a tough spot...and she yelled for isaiah. i was right there, i was watching the whole thing. but she yelled for him. for her big brother. and he came, and fixed the situation.

i never had a big brother, but i'm pretty sure that my girls have one of the best around.

when he plays

there are few things i love more than hearing matthew play the piano. he doesn't do it very often. there has to be nothing pressing on him, nothing he feels like he HAS to do at that moment. not very conducive for a PhD program. but if he feels he can, he'll sit down without music in front of him, and play what comes out, what he feels. it's beautiful, relaxing, moving. yesterday was one of those days.

school is finished, 1 year down. we were having company over so the house was clean, every last toy in it's place, trash taken out, floors vacuumed. we had about 15 minutes before they were supposed to arrive. he sat down and played.

the kids had been going balistic...crazy really. you know, that after dinner burn. but as soon as he started to play they both calmed. laying on the floor listening, mesmerized. i sat on the couch, closed my eyes and enjoyed. thinking how much i loved to just listen, how much i love him, and all the memorable times he's played for me.

for most of his life when he would go places, he'd be asked to play for people. my 21st birthday was no different. my mom threw a huge party, and i brought matt home with me. i'm not sure if the size of it was because of my birthday, or because everyone wanted to meet him.

after dinner, in true form, my mom asked him to play the piano. i crawled up to the landing on the stairs, to listen. he chose 'to God be the glory' to play. i think my mom was crying...and in the middle of it a good friend whispered in my ear 'he's the one!'

the reality is, it's good for my soul. like hitting a reset button. hearing what's inside of him, letting it wash over me. i felt like it set the mood for the next few months. a time of rest from school, more time together, peace.

i think i should have him play more often.

name #3

amazing. our 2nd daughter has a name! i feel like i have to give a history.

girl names have never come easy and after naming our first "alaythia," we knew we couldn't go with.... well i'll refrain from giving examples to avoid offending, but you get the idea.

if you've never heard us say alaythia's name, you may not be sure how to even say it. phonetically it is: uh-lay-th-e(long e)-yuh. her name is the actual greek word for truth. in translation from greek to english, it looks like ALETHEIA and is pronounced with emphasis in another spot. giving her a unique name, we decided to spell it as phonetically as we could. we went with grace as a middle name. truth and grace, what we hope her life is characterized by.

we had liked the name for a while, but were unsure of it. one night, sitting in a membership class for church, matt wrote down 'alaythia grace godshall' on a piece of paper and slipped it over to me. it was at that moment that we both just knew. and that was it for her name.

on sunday we were in church and i saw matt turn over his bulletin and start to write. now, matt's not a note taker, so i was curious. the next thing i knew, he slipped a paper over to me and had written a name down on it. and i knew. just like that. she had a name.

we decided her name would be another greek word, the word for wisdom. this time we decided to keep the pronounciation exact. no changing it this time. her middle name, like grace, is something that we know we need. something we long to have more of. her name is:

SOPHIA HOPE GODSHALL

wisdom and hope, what we pray her life mirrors.

mother's day

i had a wonderful day. i was instructed that i had HAD to sleep in. when isaiah couldn't handle it anymore he came in and woke me up at 7:30. yes, that's sleeping in.

he had picked out a bouquet of flowers for me that were sitting on the table, along with his choice of breakfast...cinnamon rolls. they had paintings on the table that they had both worked on, and then presented me with the card. a snoopy card with music. it all happened in about 20 seconds.

we headed to church where they took family pictures. after church we stopped for some lunch to eat on the way to lexington. we were off to see the hundreds of horse farms, something i had really wanted to do. the kids fell asleep on the way there and woke up when we arrived.

absolutely beautiful. what you'd think kentucky looks like. miles and miles of rolling hills. perfectly manicured green, green grass, with fences lining the way. matt had done some research and we stopped at one of the farms. we had the place to ourselves. one of the workers took us over to the mare and foal area. they had 116 foals born at the farm this year. the oldest was 3 weeks old, the youngest 3 days. we loved it. after talking for a while he also mentioned that one of their horses, born and raised at the farm, took 2nd at the derby this year. we had no idea.








we took our time driving home, stopping at some state parks and lakes along the way. it was a fantastic day with the family.

some pictures of life

i never thought i'd have a girl with curly hair...but take a look. and the humidity only helps!

go navy knights!

having the neighbors kids over for lunch! this is part of the every day crew.

since finding out that we're having a girl, i'm appreciating the 'boy' in isaiah more. i thought i'd have a plethora of boy-ness around. now he may be it. nothing like crashing cars in a football helmet. gotta love it!

it's not learning hebrew

this weekend matt was home ALL weekend. two full days with daddy? not even any homework? what in the world should we do?

clean out the closets and make room for the baby of course. no, don't take a break, don't spend down time. pull everything out of every closet, sort through it all, get so overwhelmed when you can't walk anywhere that you just sit. until your spouse comes over and pulls you out of the pit...literally.

but it's sunday afternoon and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. matt is sitting with isaiah reading him 'calvin and hobbes' both of them laughing hysterically, as i type.

today, in the midst of the caous, i was sitting on the floor surrounded by clothes, trash and boxes, sorting. matt wasn't sure what to attack next, it was just so overwhelming. matt said he was going to pack a space bag. in a moment of truth and desperation i said, 'no, i don't trust you to do that.'

now before you think i'm crazy, there is an art to packing, which i love. and ESPECIALLY packing a space bag. no zippers or buttons on the outside, all clothes folded in perfect squares, in even piles. that way when you suck all the air out, it sucks evenly.

matt was astounded at my admission of OCD, 'you don't trust me?!' i can't believe i said it out loud. but, i am too much at my end to be passive aggresive about it. he huffed and walked out. a couple minutes later he reappeared and under his breath mumbled decidedly, 'i'm packing a space bag! it's not rocket science, it's not learning hebrew!' he doesn't make eye contact, he's not asking. he heads for the bed and the mound of girls clothes piled there.

i lost it. i laughed for, no exaggeration, 10 minutes. hysterically. partly at his determination and his response. but also at my OCD and how it's true, he's brilliant and it's so absolutely ridiculous that i don't trust him to pack a space bag. he knows 5 freakin' languages for crying out loud. yes, matt, you've earned it, pack a space bag.

we sit in silence and do our thing. about 3 minutes later i hear under his breath again, 'what size are these?! arg! forget it, i'm not doing this!' and he storms out.

i haven't composed myself from the first outburst, and this just doubles the intensity. i couldn't breath. the kids run in to make sure i'm okay. good thing i was sitting or i would have surely peed.

the best job ever II

after hearing the previous post for several days. last night, isaiah popped off with:

-mom?

-yes isaiah?

-you have a job.

-oh yeah, what's that?

-to love........me! (while running into my arms)

that could be the best job ever.