Posted by Jonathan Wise on Jan 08, 2007
I know blogging about a TV show is pretty inane, but this is just a warm-up. It seems like it’s been awhile since I’ve done any worthwhile blogging (picture posts of my kid are obviously cute, but they don’t count as they have no literary value), and I need to get back in the groove, so I’ll start with blogging about TV and see what happens when/if the creative juices get flowing again.
Since we’ve had copious amounts of time locked inside hospital rooms and our apartment, we’ve managed to plow through seasons 1 and 2 of Lost. It’s one of those shows I’ve been meaning to get around to watching, but another show where there’s no point in trying to watch it live (or even PVRed) cause if you miss a single episode you’re… lost. So we worked through Season 1 during the couple weeks leading up to Benjamin’s arrival, and watched all of Season 2 in the week following it — when the little guy either eats or poops every hour, there’s not much else you can do but sit around and wait for him to demand your attention.
So at first we weren’t so into the show. It didn’t really get that interesting until they discovered the hatch, and they spend a LOT of time going into the back story of the characters — the reasons for those apparent rabbit trails are only now starting to become clear. In fact, most of Season 1 was pretty slow, and if it weren’t for being trapped in a hospital room, we probably wouldn’t have made it to Season 2. I’m glad we did though, because the show got a lot more interesting in it’s second year. I understand now why so many people are addicted to it.
One attribute of our method of watching the show, episode after episode off a DVD, is that we probably kill the suspense that most people feel waiting for next week’s episode. Now that we’re into season 3, which isn’t available on DVD yet, we’re starting to feel that a little bit, as we only buy episodes on iTunes when the PVR fails to offer up anything interesting. The scope of the story background is what’s most impressive about the series. At the surface it’s the story of some people who crash land on an island and begin to discover it’s mysteries. But as the watcher, discovering with them, you can’t help but be sucked in by what is apparently over two-decades of history that you need to understand to really know what they’re up against.
Watching Lost is a bit like feeling lost yourself, which can be frustrating. There are many moments when Nic and I just look at each other like “WTF?” (the F stands for “frig” cause we’re good church goin folks, y’know) but when you figure something out, the “ah-ha!” moments make it worth it. I know some of you out there are long time watchers, and I know the Internets are full of forums of people speculating and surmising; I have my theories, but it’s more fun to just let the story unfold. If you’ve never seen Lost, and find yourself out sick for a week or so, I’d highly recommend you rent the series on DVD…
Posted by Jonathan Wise on Jan 07, 2007
This weekend at church was amazing, but I’ll have to dedicate another whole post to that since Benjamin is squirming in my arms right now. Just wanted to show you all his Sunday outfit…
Posted by Jonathan Wise on Jan 05, 2007
Ben had his second doctor’s visit today, a follow up to the last to check on his jaundice. We were supposed to put him in the sun for 3-4 hours a day, which was difficult cause our apartment only gets sun through the windows for 1-2 hours a day. Fortunately the doctor said he was looking a lot better, and very healthy. He’s gone up 4 ounces since Tuesday, and is progressing normally.
Last night was our first rough night with him. We thought we’d had one before, but that was nothing. Benjamin did not want to sleep last night. Nor did he want to eat, or rock in his chair, or have his diaper changed or cuddle with mom or dad. He just didn’t like anything, and it sucked! He finally let us drop off somewhere between 1 and 2, and today we’ve made it our mission to make sure that by bedtime tonite, he’s totally pooped.
Lots of tummy time today. He got into this pose all by himself.
Here’s the snow suit my mom got him.
Posted by Jonathan Wise on Jan 04, 2007
Here’s a tip for all you soon-to-be parents: Huggies leak.
In the past 2 days or so of trying out Huggies, we’ve had at least 4 leaks, 3 out of the front that soak through the clothes, one particularly nasty one out the back that happened when daddy was holding him.
In fact, in the past 24 hours, daddy’s had his share of bodily fluids on him. Being a geek household, we’ve come to call puke a client-side interface, while pee and poop is a server-side (below the diaper) process. While Ben was napping in my arms last night, he rolled over and filled my arm pit with a client-side interface, then 2 out of the 4 afore-mentioned leaks happened while I had him.
Needless to say, we won’t be purchasing Huggies again…
Posted by Jonathan Wise on Jan 02, 2007
We really don’t want to become that couple who doesn’t remember how to talk about anything but our baby… It’s just that he’s soo cute and awesome, that’s it’s hard to refrain. Benjamin sleeps like a rock, rarely wakes us up more than once a night crying (although we have to wake him up to eat at this point), and let’s us go out in the evening without putting up a fuss. He loves his daddy, and when he’s upset, Nic just hands him to me and he calms down. He’s still adjusting to diaper changes — he really doesn’t like being cold — but otherwise he’s a dream baby.
He had his first doctor’s appointment today. It went very well, and he’s regained his birth weight, which means he’s eating and digesting properly. He still has a little bit of jaundice, so we have to try to find him some sunlight, but otherwise he’s the picture of health. And speaking of pictures…
Benjamin likes to sleep with his hands above his head.
He also likes taking naps with daddy.
Tummy time, he’s not so sure about, but he definitely is getting strong!
Posted by Jonathan Wise on Jan 01, 2007
Well it’s 2007. Nic and I didn’t quite ring in the new year with friends — we did make it to a really nice party, but had to cut out at around 10:00 so Benjamin could eat, and we did stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop. But before 2006 gets too far behind us, it’s time for my annual recap.
Unlike the last, this year did not start off quiet. It started off intensely stressful, and pushed us to the limit in more ways than one. Emotionally, financially and even in our relationship, our mettle was tested as we figured out how to move from one country to another. But God was there, and He lovingly guided us to an amazing young church, that would have a bigger impact on us than we could have imagined at the time. Of course there was, and still is, some things to adjust to, and some issues to deal with. But our family and friends — both old and new — were there to encourage us, and give us perspective — both on where we’d been, and on where we were heading. And by Easter, we really began to see that God had a plan bigger than just a new job and a new home…
Our new and exciting church was making waves all over the region, and we found ourselves getting drawn closer to the center of that activity. Suddenly all the ministry experiences God had given us in the past year started to make sense. We found out that the seemingly random experiences and skills God had given us weren’t so random after all, and God put us to work in new ways that were both challenging and fun. Our priorities began to shift and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out how God wanted us to shape our lives. In a matter of months, God surrounded us with His faithful servants who taught us and encouraged us to act out what we felt God was directing us to do, and before we knew it, we weren’t just getting our feet wet, we were helping people into the water. And then I had two jobs!
But that wasn’t all that was happening! Earlier this year we began getting ready for our biggest challenge yet. And if it seems like Nic didn’t have as much to do this year, being out of a job and all, don’t under-estimate the job she had in front of her. We were both scared and excited and nervous, but Nic knew almost instinctively what had to be done, and when the time came, we let our friends and family know… we were about to be parents — and I would soon have three jobs (dad being the 3rd title!)
All of these things seemed to come to a head this Christmas season, as my employer decided I was worth keeping around another year, our church opened it’s second campus, and our son arrived just before the year ended! It has been a whirlwind of a year, full of experiences and challenges neither of us could have imagined when we were starry eyed young kids planning our futures. God has been good and faithful, and has blessed us with a good job, a nice home, an incredible church, two wonderful families, and with amazing friends, who filled this website with comments echoing our joy and excitement when our son was born. We wouldn’t be here without you all — we certainly wouldn’t have survived this year without your support. We hope 2007 is an awesome year for all of you. Thanks for reading our site and supporting our little family — we can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this year!
