A baby, a new house, and a new job, oh my!

Well, you know how to fill a year with goodness. A new baby, a new house, and a new job. We are so happy for the two of you and love seeing you often. May this new year be filled with more joy and blessing. Happy second anniversary!

 

A day off for Jake

Happy birthday, Jake!

We all knew Mariana had chosen well and watching you as she labored to bring your son into this world was proof of what we already knew.

How nice of your birthday to fall on a weekend this year so you could spend the whole day with your little family. Enjoy!

Almost birthday buddies

I always write a post when it is my child's birthday. It might just be "Happy Birthday!" and a picture or two. It might be more, but I'm really not into sap or sentimentality. It might be in the morning and it might need to wait until the end of the day for me to find the time. I even have to admit to not getting around to it until the next day once or twice or maybe more.

Mariana's 24th birthday was on Saturday and I had a post all ready to go. Until somebody messed up that post by deciding to wait another 24 hours to appear.

When I first got the call on Friday morning that it was time to head east for a delivery, I thought that I had mistakenly set my phone to a school day wake up. But when I rolled over to turn off the alarm, I realized that it was Mariana and Jake calling, not an alarm. When I arrived, we talked about the possibility of a Birthday Buddy for Mariana, assuming that this first baby would take a long time to arrive, and giving him two days to make the journey.

Well, we were right about "a long time" but we were so wrong about the day! Mariana and Jake soldiered through at home and then at the birthing center. It was a joy to watch the two of them in this miraculous process of bringing my grandson into this world. Mariana was so in tune with her body, Jake was so in tune with her, and I assisted as needed. I think we made a great team!

As Friday turned into Saturday and Saturday turned into Sunday, it was difficult to watch their discouragement and exhaustion, but they hung in there. We had some tense moments when it looked like they might be sent to the hospital, but God intervened each time and allowed them the birth they had desired (minus the length!).

At 11:34PM last night, I wondered if we were going to see another day arrive before the little guy, but he finally took that eviction notice seriously, and entered this world at 11:47PM on 5-22-22. His mom forevermore can tell him that he owes her some pretty awesome birthday gifts to make up for the one where he refused to cooperate.

Mariana Christine, you gave me great joy the day you were born, and another kind of joy the day (okay, three days) you and Jake allowed me to join you in this most miraculous of journeys.

Luka Joseph, you are so welcome and loved already. You have great parents, an army of extended family members, and an awesome cloud of witnesses to love you, to shepherd you, to teach you about your Savior, and to watch you grow in favor with God and man. Thank you for the joy and honor of witnessing your three-day journey, and celebrating this day with the three of you.

Team Baby Kurtz

Go Team!

It's a ...

A Winnie the Pooh/What Will Baby Bee? theme was planned for the shower and gender reveal. 

The commitment to the theme might have been a little over the top.

With both sets of parents, grandparents, cousins, and family friends sharing the load, it turned out beautifully.

Since the parents-to-be already knew the gender, they asked the grandparents to do the honors and cut the cake...

It's a boy!

Already not yet

 If Advent is preparation for Christmas, what do you call preparation for Advent? This season of remembering that we live in the limbo of "already, but not yet" has never been more real than in the past few days.

Being allowed to participate in DJ's first birthday party,

enjoying the continuing excitement of the anticipation of another little one,

watching both Mariana and Isaac live out their life's story,

waiting for Andrew and Sarah's move to DC (and a whole lot closer to "home"),

and the heartbreak of witnessing Grandmom's stroke, difficulty in communication, yet clearly articulated desire to see her Heavenly Father. "I want to go home," she says again and again. "Can we sing about it?" I asked. "Yes, please do," was her reply. As we did, each song brought her peace from her agitation and she sang along. When we stopped, the requests began again, "I wanna go home...Father take me home...Just let me come over..." This is the reality of the "already, but not yet" that we live here on earth. Joy and sorrow. Pleasure and pain. All at once. Wanting to go home. Wanting to stay. Wanting loved ones to stay just a little bit longer. Come, Lord Jesus. He has come, but we wait with expectation for His second coming when all sorrow and sickness will be gone. Already, but not yet.

The Messiah has come. He fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. Every December we decorate our homes, we sing carols, and we hear the stories repeated in church. We know He lives in our hearts and He changes our lives. But we also know that He has not yet come the second time as He promised. We eagerly await this second coming. As a member of the "Already Not Yet" Club, am I living in such a way as to represent the One who has come but who has not yet come again? Does my life represent His saving power as the fulfillment of His first coming? Do I live with the urgency of His second coming? May I be a light this coming Advent season, and at all times, to point others to membership in Jesus' Kingdom, the Kingdom of Already, Not Yet.

Let me introduce you to little Covid

 Well, I'm thinking that at this point, you pretty much have to name your first child Covid. 

Covid heavily influenced your wedding plans.

And caused a change in your honeymoon plans, including a continued postponement.

Then Covid was instrumental in a career change. 

And then popped in for a personal visit to celebrate your first anniversary. 

I'm sure you've grieved, but you are living your story well, every twist and turn.

But isn't that what makes a story great? Who wants a boring, cookie-cutter, you-know-what's-coming-next kind of story? I don't. And I don't think you do, either. 

(And apparently you need to be sending me more photos of the two of you because apparently, that's all I've got from the last year.)

It's Jake's birthday

You might think we only keep him around for his long-arm skills when taking group selfies.

Or to fetch things off the top shelf.

But that's really not all.

We so appreciate Jake's compassion and concern for everyone he meets. 

I'm especially thankful for the way that he loves our youngest. Not everyone can do that which we've learned the hard way.

Most importantly, thank you for the way you love Ana. 

Have a great birthday!

Eat it before it's gone

Yes, we label food around here.

It's a must.

Usually it's reserved for the individual who has purchased his own food, or been given a special edible gift, or who didn't eat her portion of the dessert and wanted to be sure it didn't get scarved up before she could get to it.

Apparently, Jake didn't have to do this in his family of origin. Either they never had any food left-over or they were a lot less selfish than we are but whatever the reason, this was a new concept to him.

One night, Jake and Ana decided they wanted to make a run to Giant. Isaac, Eden, and HopeAnne tagged along. Each person purchased his or her own treat, including a unique-sounding pint sized ice cream flavor for each. Since they aren't as individually sized as they look, out came the Sharpies so it would be clear that the left-over ice cream belonged to a specific family member, and wasn't up for grabs.

Not to be left out, Jake pulled out a pad of Post-It notes and went to town. All. Over. My. Kitchen.

The next morning, I was a little perplexed as to why Jake owned the box of butter quarters. And an egg...

But then I started finding the notes everywhere and figured out what was going on.

Occasionally I find another one.

Sorry, Jake, but I needed these beans for the Labor Day camp-out.  You'll have to buy your own can.

Anyone can draw

Inspired by the onboard education on the Disney Dream, we decided to turn some family nights into educational nights. Every Friday night is Family Night (and all are invited - just text first so we know to expect you) but last night was our first official Onboard Education Family Night.

Notice the fine print

Eden and HopeAnne decided to tackle a drawing class. Yes, the teachers need to tackle the task since we're quite the crew. Never a dull moment and lots of laughter.

They put up with us and persisted even when Tyree stole the water pitcher (presumably to fill his glass) just as Eden was to demonstrate the drawing of it.

Thanks to Mariana's growing collection of various, unique colored glass vases for the future wedding, we had instant still life. Pick your poison, people.

Victor had a lot of questions, struggled with the noise and laughter, but did his best to listen and draw his Coca-Cola cup to the best of his ability. He even drew a table line when Eden said we should add that important element.

Jesse was to evenly distribute the kneadable eraser but instead kept most of it for himself. Apparently he thought he was in the sculpture class and not the still life class.

We quickly discovered that some of us got all of the talent, a few got a little, and some got none. But it doesn't matter as that was not the point. No one can accuse us of boring dinner parties.

Everyone's favorite distraction, TJ!