Birthday Misadventures

Yesterday was my birthday.  The big 30!  A major milestone, to be sure.  Another decade behind me and I'm looking forward to the decade to come.  Ever since Eli turned 30 last fall I've kinda flaunted my 20s in his face, but no more.  I've joined him in the ranks of those entering their fourth decade of life.

And I love my birthday!  I love it!  I love the attention, I love the excuse to spoil myself, I love the presents and the cards and the extra chocolate I get to eat :)  So I was looking forward to this spectacular day.  Caleb and I had some misadventures in the morning, however, that made the day memorable if not particularly pleasant the whole time :)

I had spent the weekend in Chicago for a reunion with our Small Group (from our years during med school) and was set to fly home to Duluth with Caleb this morning.  My wonderful friends treated me to a birthday breakfast before taking us to the airport.  I ate a scrumptious cinnamon roll french toast dish, but on the way to O'Hare I suddenly became nauseous and wound up puking in the car :(  I was so embarrassed, but thankfully they had a container on hand for me to use.  We had to pull over on the highway so I could discard the remnants of my breakfast and get some fresh air.  I felt remarkably better afterwards although I was still embarrassed :(

Then we hit Chicago traffic.  I do not miss Chicago traffic.  Let me repeat: I do not miss it!  We got to O'Hare exactly one hour before my flight, which is cutting it close for such a huge airport but I figured we'd be fine as soon as I checked in.  (For those of you unaware, you can't check-in early if you're traveling with an infant.  Not sure why, but that's the way it is).  Well, I swiped my card at the kiosk to print my boarding pass only to find that they had "no itinerary for K. Horn" and I started sweating.  I tried three times and failed three times.  I asked a United employee for help who just pointed to the queue to see a ticket agent.  She sent me to the right which, unbeknownst to me at the time, meant I was in the line for the problem people.  Everyone who went left were going through quickly with no trouble while those of us unfortunate enough to be sent to the right were waiting and waiting while everyone ahead of us were having their problems sorted out.  We were in line for a long, long time, and when we finally got to the counter I already had tears in my eyes.  Our flight was set to depart in 30 minutes and I didn't even have our boarding passes yet.  I knew we'd never make it.  I told the lady our predicament - "I know we have a reservation" - and asked the lady if there was anything she could do for us?  When I told her which flight I was supposed to be on, she made a face that was unhopeful but compassionate.  She asked why I arrived so late and since I was too embarrassed to tell her I vomited on the way, I said we had car trouble but also reminded her how long I had to wait in line just to talk with her.

Next, she lamented that there was nothing she could do about my scheduled flight but that she could put me on the next flight to Duluth, which departed at 9pm.  9pm.  That's when I started crying for real.  Tears were streaming down my face.  There were no other flights to Duluth that day?  No.  Are you serious?  Yes.

So she asked how close Minneapolis is?  I said I'd go to Minneapolis, but as she checked the flights, apparently there were no seats available.  All day.  I found this fact hard to believe but she assured me it was true.  How close is Sioux Falls?  Do not send me to Sioux Falls!  Okay, how about Eau Claire?  More tears.

Then another United employee walked by and saw my face and asked kindly, "Oh, honey, are you okay?"  I told her plainly that I was not.  So she started looking at the computer too.  As the two ladies were talking, it came out that my original flight to Duluth had been cancelled.  My ears perked up.  It had been cancelled?  Yep.  Cancelled.  Because of thunderstorms, apparently.  Everything going east/west that required a small plane had been cancelled.  Flights to Minneapolis were still going because the planes were big enough to handle the weather (and thus everyone on all these other cancelled flights were being re-routed through Minneapolis and filling any open seats).  But the original lady had failed to mention this to me!  I was still upset, to be sure, but felt great relief that our plight was not my own fault for puking in the car and showing up late.  I couldn't believe no one had mentioned that our flight had been cancelled.  Good grief!  Is basic communication really that difficult?

They assured me again that there were no planes going my direction that had an open seat until the 9pm flight to Duluth.  I kept crying and they didn't seem to understand my overt emotion so I simply said, "I have an infant!" who was sitting quite obviously behind me in the stroller.  I restrained myself from screaming, "Would you like to entertain an active one-year old boy in O'Hare for 12 hours???"

But within another minute a seat suddenly opened up on a flight to Minneapolis, which was taking off in 90 minutes.  I know this was by God's grace.  I practically screamed, "I'll take it!" and said a silent prayer of thanksgiving.  They asked if I knew anyone there and I said yes, I have family there and I'd figure it out - just get me on that flight!  So they did.  My in-laws weren't in town so I called our cousin Jamie Horn who answered with a cheery, "Happy Birthday!" to which I responded with a teary "I have a huge favor to ask you..."  She rearranged her schedule and came to pick us up at the airport.  Then she drove us halfway to Duluth to meet my dear friend Angela who drove down to meet us and bring us the rest of the way home.  They are currently my heroes, especially because they each hauled their little kids along to rescue us.  I just wanted to be home after traveling for four days with a baby and I just wanted to see my husband on my birthday.  And we eventually made it home thanks to these dear women!

Through all of our troubles at the airport, I restrained from wailing that it was my 30th birthday and how much worse the whole situation was made because of this simple fact.  But I soon discovered that the lady sitting next to me on the plane was supposed to go to Duluth that morning too and also got sent to Minneapolis instead and it was her birthday too!  I couldn't believe it.  We commiserated and enjoyed talking and gave each other birthday wishes.  It was a point of light in the midst of my stress.

The one other thing that frustrated me was Caleb's inability to fall asleep on the plane....until I nursed him.  Let me briefly mention that I weaned him more than two weeks ago.  It was a milestone for both of us, but we've moved on and he's done great without nursing.  But man oh man, he gave me a fit on the plane till I gave up and "nursed" him.  He's never taken a pacifier and he's a notoriously bad napper to begin with and he simply wouldn't stop crying and go to sleep any other way.  He didn't want his sippy cup.  He didn't want his Cheerios.  He didn't want to snuggle on my shoulder with a blanket.  He wanted me.  And I was annoyed.  And he wouldn't let go the entire flight.  I tried multiple times to break free from my sleeping son, but each time I made a stealthy attempt he instantly aroused and started whining, looking for me again.  I finally gave up.  It was annoying.

But we made it to Minneapolis, and because of my amazingly faithful and compassionate friends, Caleb and I made it home to Duluth even before Eli got home from work.  And all in all, it actually was a blessing because I got to see two of my closest friends on my birthday, which wouldn't have happened otherwise.  And Caleb was a trooper.  I was so proud of him for dealing with our traveling troubles so well.  And he was just as glad to see Eli as I was :)

home again, feeling good after bathing off our travel grime

my birthday buddy

Then, to my surprise, Eli had previously arranged for our friend to watch Caleb in the evening so he could take me out to dinner for my birthday.  This was the same friend who graciously came to our rescue earlier in the day and brought us the rest of the way to Duluth.  So she was my hero twice yesterday :)  Eli took me to a place in Canal Park called Grizzly's, which I love because they have an amazingly delicious honey basil chicken sandwich.  Mmm, mmm, mmm.  And then he took me to play mini golf!  I love mini golf and we hadn't played in a very long time.  It was loads of fun!  On the way out we stopped at a photo booth, which we'd never done before, but now it's a great little memento of how my 30th birthday ended: joyfully!

please notice that the birthday girl won :)

I Am Strong! I Am Mighty! I Am Caleb!

Out of nowhere, tonight Caleb started balling his fists and squeezing them super tight.  He's never done this before and it was hilarious because he was so entertained by himself.  He was sitting in his chair at the end of supper and started showing us how strong he is.  We couldn't interpret his actions any other way :)  He is, indeed, a rather strong boy, but this was the only time it's appeared as if he wanted to make this fact known :)  He'd been doing this repeated action for several minutes before I grabbed the camera and was really thrusting his fists in the air as if in triumph!

Singing

My mom has said that when I was a kid I went through a phase when I sang everything.  "May I have another hot dog, please?" was not spoken.  It was sung, with gusto :)  While I don't remember doing this, I'm not at all surprised.  I love to sing.  It's a large part of who I am and how God has wired me to experience life.  Singing is a vital way I express myself.  And I hum too.  In fact, I think I hum more than I sing.  I cannot tell how many times I've been humming without even knowing it and heard someone ask, "Who's humming?" only to discover it was me.  It's so ingrained in me that I do it without even knowing I've started.  

Several years ago, while we were in college at Bethel, there was a speaker at Chapel who was also a talented musician and he mentioned Psalm 96:1, "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth."  He said this verse could literally mean that we should create new songs to sing to the Lord, or it could mean that we sing any song that already exists with a new heart, new understanding, new purpose, etc.  At the time this seemed incredibly profound to me, yet this happens all the time.  How many times have I discovered new meaning in lyrics, or been moved by a melody that hadn't moved me before, or felt like a song was written just for me the first time I heard it?  Countless times.  

All this is to say, I love singing.  I sing by myself and to myself.  I sing to Eli and to Caleb.  And I sing to the Lord.  It is an essential aspect of my relationship with Him.  He's created me to love singing, and to love singing for and to Him.  

There are two songs that have recently been pressed on my heart.  I've found myself singing and humming them quite a lot.  The first is one that we discovered about a year ago and I can't resist sharing it with you.  It's called "How Can I Keep From Singing?" which is rather appropriate to the topic of this blog post.  This particular rendition makes me weak at the knees.  Whenever I hear it I have to stop whatever I'm doing and soak it in, relishing the Celtic-sounding acapella voice that lingers in the air long after it has stopped.  I love this song.  I love hearing it and I love singing it.

Just this morning another song was pressed on my heart.  I was driving to Target and flipping through radio stations when I heard the local Christian station saying a prayer for the victims of the horrific tornado that destroyed Moore, Oklahoma yesterday.  My heart has been broken since hearing the news, unable to imagine the shock and devastation felt by that entire community.  I've been particularly aware of it since my twin sister lives in Oklahoma, just a 40-minute drive from Moore.  Thank God they are perfectly fine where they are, but I am reminded that they live in a dangerous place.  I've prayed for their protection many times since they moved there - Oklahoma has many dangers, including tornadoes, of course, but also scorpions, black widow spiders, and brown recluse spiders which sometimes make it into my sister's house and are discovered by my young niece and nephew (I've also prayed many times against them getting stung/bitten).  

Oklahoma has its perils, as most everywhere does, but we're reminded this week of the danger of living in Tornado Alley.  After praying for the people in Moore, the local Christian radio station played this song, "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman.  I thought how appropriate it was.  "Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes."  I sang along as if this was a new song, like Psalm 96:1 suggests, and let my heart sing to the Lord in the midst of this tragedy that is causing incredible pain to so many people.  My prayer for the people who are suffering is that, somehow, when the evening comes (whatever that means for them) they will be able to sing.  Sing a new song to the Lord.  Let your heart cry out, let your heart grieve, let your heart mourn, let your heart rejoice.  Whatever is waiting for these people in the evening, I pray they will be able to sing, especially those who are wired to love singing like I am.  

I know these two songs will be sung from my lips and hummed from my throat in the following days.  I'm so grateful for the gift of song.  What would this world be without singing?

Mother's Day

I am so proud to be this boy's Mama!

And I will kiss those sweet cheeks as long as I can!

Birthday Boy!

Caleb is one year old!  And he's had quite a day!

Eli was still here when Caleb woke up, which was a special treat, and then our little man helped me make blueberry pancakes for breakfast, which he subsequently devoured.  He also had his first taste of cow milk with breakfast, and he seems to be a fan!

helping in the kitchen

he loves his spoon and pan!

satisfied with a tummy full of pancakes

Then he opened a birthday package from his cousins in Oklahoma and was rather excited to discover what was inside.  

Since it was so nice outside, we went to the park behind our house to let him swing in the baby swing for the first time.  He loved it!

In the afternoon we went to Menards to buy a bird feeder and a wren house so Caleb can watch birds this summer.  He loved watching the birds in Grand Marais so I thought it'd be a great birthday present.  My dad is an amateur ornithologist, so he knew what we should get in terms of which kind of birds to attract with which birdhouses and which birdseed.  We're hoping to see cardinals, blue jays, juncos, sparrows and chickadees on our deck this year.  And maybe a wren or two in the new birdhouse in our pine tree.

For supper we ordered Caleb's favorite dish: pizza!  This kid loves pizza.  Loves it.  He can hardly shovel it in fast enough!  It was the perfect birthday dinner for our little man.

double-fisting his pizza :)

And then Eli came home.  Caleb was super excited to see his daddy, who was just as excited to see him :)  I love how much my boys love to see each other at the end of the day.  On the days that Eli comes home in the evening, it's our golden hour to play and be together before Caleb goes to bed.  Our son is truly at his happiest when Eli walks through the door :)

Two other major events happened today: Caleb finally started drinking out of a sippy cup and he took his first steps on his own!  As for the sippy cup, I've been trying for a long time to get him to figure it out, to no avail.  He would bite it but not drink from it, and mostly throw it around like a toy.  But this morning, like magic, I gave it to him like I have every other day and suddenly he just picked it up and drank out of it as if he'd been doing it all along!  Woohoo!  Then, several times today, he took a few steps all on his own, by his own initiative!  He'd taken a couple steps last week with some urging and some help, but today he decided that he wanted to do it and would take off on his own!  He can only go a few steps before falling into me or onto his knees, but he's taking definite steps.  We will soon have a walker on our hands!

It's been a good day :)  We can hardly believe that we officially have a one-year old little man!

Child Dedication and Birthday Party

Yesterday marked two major milestones for Caleb: he was dedicated at church, followed by his first birthday party!  His actual birthday is on Wednesday, but we had the party yesterday because our family was already in town for the dedication.  It was a busy but joyous day!

Caleb refused - I mean, refused - to nap in the morning and had a meltdown shortly before leaving for church.  He was exhausted and I thought we'd be the one family with the screaming, crying kid up front, but we took a short drive before heading to the church, which calmed him down, and then he was a spectacularly adorable, non-crying little man as we stood before the congregation and declared our intentions to raise our child to know and love the Lord.  I maybe got a bit emotional during the prayer :)  It was a beautiful moment for us!

dedicating our son to the Lord during the church service

We were incredibly blessed to have both sets of grandparents plus our dear cousins come to Duluth for this momentous occasion.  My parents flew in for the week, and Eli's parents made the drive up from St. Paul, and Eli's cousin/best friend (and his family) also drove up from St. Paul.  We were beyond grateful to have them all here and incredibly encouraged to have their support as Caleb was dedicated.  Our son is cherished and loved SO much and we cannot thank God enough for this!

After church, everyone headed back to our house for lunch and a birthday party!  Caleb was tired enough to fall asleep on the car ride home, but still wouldn't nap once we got to the house.  He must have smelled a celebration in the air and he didn't want to miss a thing!  So we charged forth with our small party and Caleb enjoyed being the center of attention :)

moose and evergreen sugar cookies!

moose cake for our moose baby: marble cake with chocolate frosting

he was very intrigued by the cake as we sang Happy Birthday

Caleb loves candles and kept trying to grab the fire, but then stuck his fingers in the frosting and was soon trying to get more, which meant it was time to put him in the chair and let him go nuts!

Someone said, "Caleb, this is such a rite of passage!" to which Eli responded, "Yeah, when we strip you naked in front of all your friends and family, strap you to a chair and cover you with chocolate."  Now that's a unique perspective :)

He decided he likes cake :)

Is your heart not melting????

Next on the menu was a moose cookie, which he also thoroughly enjoyed :)

By the way, whenever he sits in his chair he always puts his feet up like this.  Too cute!

After bathing the chocolate off, it was present time.  He really doesn't get the concept yet, but he was particularly intrigued by his new sunglasses.

I found this onesie while I was pregnant and desperately wanted to get it, but Eli wouldn't let me yet.  Then I came across it again while we were in Grand Marais in March and I had to get it this time!  

Another popular present was this inflatable moose head that Eli's mom found.  Isn't it hilarious?  It's not the most accurate-looking moose (in fact, Eli says it's a white-tailed dear despite what the box says), but that's neither here nor there since Caleb loves it.  We came downstairs this morning and he instantly started babbling to it, rather vigorously I might add :)  Every once in awhile he realizes that it's still there and starts making tons of noise again.  It's hilarious :)

Here we are!

It was a fabulous day celebrating the life of our son.  We are so blessed to have him.  He's changed our life for the better and we cannot imagine life without him!