Congratulations Care-Care and Ben!!

My Roomie of 4 years and her hubby had a beautiful baby boy last Monday!!

Owen Marcel Wickstra.

I Can not WAIT to meet him! He's already a total cutie from the photos I've seen.

Congratulations to the two of you. Parenthood is truly amazing.

Love to all three of you.

Back from family vay-cay

Well, we're back from a delightful week of family vacation in Northern Wisconsin, at a place fondly known as Hunky Dory. And by "family vacation" I mean my immediate family and Mark's extended family on both his mom AND dad's side. Naturally, Lucas was loving the surplus of attention from Grandmas, Grandpas, Great-grandmas, a great-grandpa, aunts, an uncle, great aunts, great uncles, second cousins and family friends. He also got to spend some quality time with his second cousin who shares the exact same birthday as him. It was a great week. A bit chilly a few of the days, but great.

Lucas' first time in a lake. As we expected, he loved it.


A day in Stillwater, MN spent with the sissy, the sissy, mama, and hubby.

Lucas ringing the bell for dinner...yes, there's a bell for meals. I'm telling you, this place is magical.

This is Lucas' second cousin Hannah, whom he happens to share his birthday with. The newfound friendship was going great...until they discovered that they are mortal rivals (note sweatshirts). It was tough for them to accept.


An evening by the campfire.


Mark's immediate and extended family on his dad's side. They're a lively bunch:)


Four generations:)

So after posting a favorite dance from last week, I now feel a responsibility to YOU to expose more of the greatness of SYTYCD.

This one is powerful, emotional and awesome. The actual dance doesn't start till about a minute in, but the beginning shares the inspiration for the choreography.

FAVORITE DANCE OF THE WEEK

Today we had fun with our friends Miss Katie and Miss Sofia. In the event that they were to get married someday, all the pictures we've taken of the two of them so far will come in really handy.

What does it mean to be a little more true to yourself today?

Does it mean creating something that only you could create?

Does it mean letting go of a grudge?

Does it mean asking for forgiveness?

Does it mean stopping the unkind thoughts about a particular body part?

Does it mean letting go of clutter in a space? In your mind? In your heart?

Does it mean going on a search for beauty? adventure? mystery?

Does it mean finally being honest with yourself? or someone else?

This journey towards wholeness requires a great deal more honesty than any would dare to imagine. So dare. Dare to stop hiding behind the hurt, the anger, the fear, the boredom, the expected. Dare to walk towards the truth of who you are. Who you really are.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."

C.S. Lewis

The little boy suffered his first official baby bonk today. It was a fight between him and a kitchen table leg. I admire him for even getting in the ring. Poor little bug:(

Foster Kids update

Well, to update my previous post on Illinois' social services budget, a Court Order was made public that stated that funds could not be cut for foster children. It was literally ilegal. Essentially the idea is that, legally, the state of Illinois is these children's guardian and thus has the responsibility to care for these children's needs. So, the final budget has not been determined but it has been confirmed that funding will continue in all previous areas for foster kids. Good good news.

Doing this little blogging explosion has caused me to look back on some of my early posts. Its fun to read them and remember the thoughts and emotions that I was experiencing at the time. I remember the insecurity of starting a blog, wondering if people would read and sitting on the couch with Mark brainstorming ideas for the title. I remember the utter excitement and anticipation as we were getting ready to move to Denver. I remember the shock, fear and joy like I had never known when we found out we were pregnant. I remember where I was when I had the inspiration for a particular post or what the weather was like. Its fun:)

Its also been so interesting to witness my personal growth from reading earlier posts. As I was reading a couple of the posts I kept flinching reading the unkind words I wrote about myself. I had always been one quick to self-depricate. I felt the need to emphasize what a screw up I was. I felt like God wanted me to acknowledge what a mess up I was. I thought he was pleased over me lamenting my short-comings, my faults and my ugliness. It is a lesson that has been difficult but life-changing for me to learn. Thanks to a mentor in Denver and other interventions, I learned how to be more gentle with myself. I learned that procrastinating and wasting times sometimes doesn't mean I AM unproductive. I learned that even though there are times that I act irresponsibly, it doesn't mean I AM irresponsible. I learned that though I say careless things at times, it doesn't mean I AM careless. When I learned of the depth of my brokeness, it made the moments of mess-up a little less shocking and a little less monumental. I think (and hope) knowing the Lindsey today vs. the Lindsey of several years ago, you will find a Lindsey who is kinder in her words and thoughts towards herself.

Now, I'll admit all that I just wrote as if I have fully accomplished this way of viewing and loving myself. I haven't. In fact, the motivation of this post comes from waking up this morning and feeling a little crappy about myself for various reasons. But again I remind myself: Be gentle self. You are learning and growing. And God's grace and love are deeper than you could ever begin to imagine. Yes, you do things that are flawed and fall short but that is not who you are. It is never who you are. No need to depricate yourself. God loves you. And the truth in that statement, you will never truly know the depth and breadth.

Josiah and Lucas' 1st 4th:)

This is Lucas' good buddy Josiah. There were so many kodak moments today. Thanks to Rebekah (Josiah's mama and my friend:) for capturing a few! As you can see, they were a patriotic duo...

Now its no secret to most that I am a huge fan of the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance". Dance gives the viewer the permission to feel. I am allowed to enter into the beauty and intrigue of the music, the steps, the lighting, the costuming and the story. I believe that dance, like visual art, meets you where you are. It does not tell you what you are supposed to feel or think. It presents you with its art and allows you to explore.

So, yes, I love the show. For more reasons than those. Those reasons include its pretty, it makes me happy, Cat always looks cute, Mary Murphy's obnoxiousness has grown on me, in another life (with a different body) I was a dancer, and I get to meet new friends in the dancers...granted one-sided friendships but friends none-the-less. Usually I am a huge fan of the conteporary pieces. Mia Michaels, though harsh with the contestants at times, is an amazing choreographer. And I totally love the quirkyness and freshness of Sonya's choreography.

Thus, I was surprised when I witnessed my favorite dance of the season yesterday and it was--who would have guessed it--Hip Hop! Oh man, but it was sweet. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. I think the actual dance starts at around 2 min. 30 sec. You won't regret it...

BEST DANCE OF THE SEASON

"foster kids are our kids"

I went back to work today after a lovely extended weekend enjoying my dad's visit. Timbo heading back to Georgia equaled me heading back to work.

I had been hearing threats of budget cuts for Illinois' social services over the past month or so. In my life experience, threats rarely turn into reality so I didn't think too much about it. But with Illinois' new fiscal year starting today, the threats and talk turned into action. Some of those actions included cutting all reimbursements for daycare for foster children as well as no longer paying for counseling for these children and their parents. That means that foster parents are now expected to foot the bill for day care expenses. This is not possible for many families, meaning they are forced to give up children that may have at last found a stable home. These budget cuts also mean that these children (and their parents) who have experienced some extent of abuse and/or neglect are no longer given the opportunity to receive the help they so desparately need. I dare you to just begin to contemplate the far-reaching effects of these decisions. There is also talk of cutting foster parents' already meager monthly reimbursements by another 10-75%.

I don't claim to understand the inner-workings of Illinois' State Budget. However, I am able to recognize a total travesty when I hear it. Some who have been working in social services longer than myself, assure me that these budget cuts will be addressed and reversed shortly. Others are not as confident. It is shocking to me that my state has chosen to affect its children in such a tragic and seemingly heartless way. We are not talking about a controversial topic that splits the Left and the Right. We are talking about the well-being of the lives and futures of our children.

I don't really have in mind a resolution for this post. I guess I'm just asking for anyone reading this to please pray for our state and the legislators making these decisions concerning the budget. The decisions they're making affects the futures of over 16,000 children. I have no doubt that there are difficult decisions to be made. And they are in need of wisdom greater than their own in making these decisions.