Valentine's Day

Around the Meek house, we're not too big on celebrating "Hallmark Holidays." We do typically do something special for Valentine's Day though but, like everything else that we do, it's not your "usual" type of celebration that most couples think of on such a historically romantic day. Instead of going out to eat at a pricey restaurant, Steve made a nice dinner and we had some wine (Judah also joined us for dinner but not the wine) and just relaxed at home. It was really wonderful and special. We actually celebrated Valentine's Day on the 15th though because Steve had a meeting for the Reno AIDS Walk planning committee on the 14th.

Judah received several really thoughtful and sweet V-Day cards from family. The above picture is of him holding his cards from his cousins, Katie and Alex.

Starbucks/Boys Date Day

Once a week, Steve takes Judah on a "boys date" where they do fun stuff together. They're typically out for about 3 hours. During that time, I usually go to Starbucks to read, write birthday/thank you cards, do some design work on the computer, etc. I look so forward to my Starbucks day every week because it gives me some much-needed, uninterrupted time to work on those things I don't manage to get done when Judah is around. It's nice to feel like a "normal" personal out in the real world without a busy toddler sometimes too. Last week, Steve took Judah to Cabela's sporting goods store. They have lots of wildlife scenes with real (stuffed) wild animals, which Judah loves to look at. The first time he saw this scene of the lion and the zebra, he said, "Oh no, zebra fall!" Daddy loves boys date day too! It's a day we all look forward to every week.

Being Fed

Although we love the Sunday teaching of our Teaching Pastor, Dawson Lange, we often times miss the service because we're serving in the Kid's Ministry or doing miscellaneous work behind the scenes. So, we'll listen to Dawson's sermon online later in the week. We also try to listen to other Bible teachings online as we have time during the week. Our latest interest is listening to the two Mars Hill church pastors' teachings. Their preaching styles contrast a great deal but we really learn a lot from both of them. We also laugh a lot when we listen! Many of you have been fans of Rob Bell and Mark Driscoll for a long time so forgive our slowness in jumping on the Mars Hill bandwagon, so to speak :). For those of you who like to listen to teachings online and haven't already checked out Mars Hill (Grand Rapids, MI) or Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA), I highly recommend giving it a try. Rob Bell (MI) and Mark Driscoll (WA) also have some books out on the market if you like their teachings and delivery.

Judah's 2 Year Pics

Judah and I did a photo shoot a couple of weeks ago to commemorate his turning 2 at the end of December. Here is a collage of a few of those pics. I included a few of his current favorite things in the large photo. Enjoy!

The Big Boy Potty

Over the past month or so I've periodically had Judah sit down on his potty chair to get him used to the idea and concept. I had planned to officially start the potty training process on February 1st. Well, today he wanted to sit on it (he showed me that he wanted to by stripping down to his bare bottom and standing in the hallway outside the bathroom) and he actually went pee! I quickly ran in to the kitchen to get his reward, which we had just bought on Friday, so he would be excited to do it again the next time. His reward...2 peanut M&M's! He reached into the jar and pulled out his 2 treats and, after finishing them and getting dressed, he promptly told me that he wanted to go again. Obviously, he wanted more M&M's!!!! Smart boy! :) He fought it hard but Mommy finally won the battle with him being told he could try again AFTER his nap.

Postscript to That Dreaded Day...

Thankfully, we found out Judah's crib still had one more notch we could lower the mattress so we've been given a reprieve on his getting out of bed for a while longer. :) Thank you, God!

That Dreaded Day

So the day we've been dreading has come. Judah has discovered how to climb out of his crib. I left for a run and, while I was gone, Steve put Judah down for his nap. By the time I got back home, Judah was climbing out of bed for the third time. He was promptly placed back in his crib with a swat to the behind and a firm, "Do NOT get out of this bed again." He cried for a while but fell asleep after about 10 minutes. I haven't peeked in on him yet to see if he's sleeping in his crib or on the floor, however. Life will definitely be more interesting in the days ahead...