Feb 10, 2011 | The Parenthood
You’re probably wondering if there’s any news around these parts which might relate to me achieving the first half of my two-part New Year’s Resolution. {The resolution that I currently have one kid and two chins and I would like to reverse those statistics this year.} I can finally say I pretty much have the metaphorical ducks in a row, but still one kid and two chins on the outside right now.
My hospital bag is pretty much packed, although I think I need to think about the clothes I’ve chosen. The house has been thoroughly tidied, but is already starting to get a little messy again. Baby clothes are unpacked into the awesome changing table some friends let us borrow, we’ve purchased or been blessed with pretty much everything we need, and the crib is expectantly awaiting its new inhabitant, raised to baby level and fitted with clean sheets.
I’ve done fairly well this pregnancy with keeping my diet balanced, not going overboard on sweets and continuing to hit the gym, even if it’s just to ride the bike for twenty minutes and walk on the treadmill for ten, but now for some reason I feel like I’ve already crossed the finish line, and my good habits are out the window. I’m eating chocolate like it’s my job, and I am not interested in getting on a bike or going for a walk.
So the ankles are turning into cankles and the toes are beginning to look like mini sausages. Sigh.
The positive thing is that I am still keeping moving — meals are happening (I’m very thankful for Agnes’ help in the kitchen!) laundry is not piling up, and as you may have guessed, I’m not slowing down too much on what is perhaps my favourite pastime, baking baking baking. (Wednesday’s banana bread is calling my name from the kitchen counter and chocolate brownies are on deck for this afternoon.)
And since these ducks are mostly in a row, I’m keeping myself busy with nesting and non-nesting activities, like:
Painting my hard to reach (heck, hard to see) toenails.
Sorting through clothes the Bear can’t wear anymore.
Keeping cool with a “swimmee”
And cutting the Hub’s and the Bear’s hair. (It was starting to look like Rod Stewart in the mornings again. Hey, he was born in Scotland.)
Here’s the before:
Am I bothered?
Some of that bedhead actually had to be cut, as in I couldn’t de-tangle it and had to just cut it! (And he’d had a bath and brush the night before — this is just one night’s sleep!)
Care to see the after?
Look away, I’m embarrassed!
I don’t know, what do you think?
Not to be cheesy, but I think I make this look good.
And though we are quite eager in awaiting the little one’s arrival, every day it seems at least one little thing happens that I think wouldn’t have happened in the same way if baby had come, and it encourages me to continue to trust the Lord for His perfect timing.
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” {Acts 17:26 & 27}
So we’ll keep waiting for God’s perfect timing. (And hoping it’s pretty soon!) In the meantime, pass the chocolate.
xCC
Feb 7, 2011 | Stories, The Parenthood
I‘m a little tired today. Like, I thought I was going to pass out doing the grocery shop at the Pick n Pay this morning. If Agnes hadn’t been around to help I don’t think I would’ve made it! Our errands at the mall took a little longer than usual because I had to go tinkle three times in the space of a couple hours.
Anywho.
Were you worried I went into labour and no one told you? Well things were just a little wild over the weekend because a sweet friend of mine named Lucy threw me a surprise baby shower. It was such a delightful blessing! Everyone was afraid I would go into labour because of the surprise but wee one is still right as rain, dancing on my bladder and kicking like a ninja.
First let me show you a sweet picture HH took of the Bear before we get into the details of the shower. He cannot fall asleep without a blanky tag nearby.
Although the Bear seems slightly unsettled, with Mom seeming preoccupied and not able to pick him up, and the changes of potty training and big-boy-bedding-it to overcome, he is still doing really well. And I’m pretty sure Agnes is his new BFF.
So, the Baby Shower. Saturday morning the Hubs and I ran out on a few errands, and when we returned to our place, surprise, a dozen ladies had overtaken and balloons and tasty eats and awesome gifts were waiting for me and the wee one on the way.
Everyone came with a name suggestion, which threw me into a bit of a loop, reconsidering names we’d already crossed off the list, but it was fun to hear the ideas and suggestions (and how many were names we’d seriously thought about!) Lucy also asked folks to write a blog post for me, perhaps talking about pregnancy or birth or suggesting names for the Bear. I am hoping to type a few of them out and share them with you here because they were just so special!! I loved that there was a bit of a blogging theme to the shower. Don’t you?
Getting some absolutely adorable baby clothes, and lots of sweet gear including wipes and blankies and teethers oh my, was also pretty awesome. I felt totally spoiled — it is so lovely to see how God provides for us through our friends. I think Danica found the cutest Baby Scrapbook ever made for me.
We prayed for the little one and I heard some encouraging stories about the very positive experiences my friends have had at Vergelegen, the Medi-Clinic (hospital) where wee one will be making his appearance. Please don’t ask me to pronounce the name of the hospital for you; Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was a whole lot easier!
After the sweet shower, making lunch with the gals who had to drive back to Cape Town, and a nice nap, the Hubs and I enjoyed an early Valentine’s Day date just in case the wee one decides to make an early appearance. {Tangled is an adorable movie and the chicken spring rolls at Cape Town Fish Market are a tasty third trimester treat. Good stuff. Thanks, Mom!}
We now have the crib almost ready (the mattress is just on the floor beside the Bear’s big boy bed to help with the occasional fall), diapers and other necessities bought (or received), a mostly-packed hospital bag…okay, less than half-packed but I’ll get there, and the grandparents on standby. And this little one seems to have moved down — by the looks of the bump, a good four or five inches of lowering have taken place — and that is my excuse for needing the loo every thirty minutes or less.
We will most definitely let you know when some action starts to happen around here. I’m a little sad that I don’t think there’s wifi in the hospital. Alas! I’ll show Agnes how to post something to keep you in the know when the joyous arrival comes!
Thanks for all the encouragement, dear friends! The best is yet to come!!
xCC
Jan 30, 2011 | Stories, The Good Word, The Parenthood
I came across this post in a drafts folder today. I wrote it back in May of last year, and sent it off to be a guest post somewhere. It didn’t make the cut and I forgot about it. Although it’s nearly a year later, and we’re in a different season in a new home, it meant a lot to me to re-read it, and I hope it’ll be an encouragement to you. As we transition from one wee one to two, I’m excited all over again.
I have a special privilege almost every evening these days. Just as Hero Hubs and I are going to bed, I creep back into our little one’s room to tuck him in. (Down here in the southern hemisphere, it’s chilly chilly winter time.)
Night after night, I silently slip in and assess the situation. I find the socks he pulled off before drifiting to sleep and slip them back onto his feet. I get his blankies sorted out and put an extra one over him on very cold nights. Sometimes his head is at the wrong end of the crib, he has his knees tucked under him and his bum in the air. Sometimes he stirs and lets out a little whimper that will be hushed with a simple shhhh…. it is always an oh-so precious moment.
A few nights ago, I went in to tuck him in and he was in my favourite unique and sweet position: the head at the wrong end, bum in the air one. He stirred and lifted his head to try to figure out who’d come in his room to put blankies back over him. As I stroked his hair and shushed him back to sleep, his head dropped back onto his jungle animal sheets and he let out a big toot.
It was a toot only a mother could love. Actually the Hubs would’ve loved it, too. But in that moment, and in so many of those moments, I am suddenly met with this overwhelming reminder: the Lord looks on me like this, and He loves me like this. And then some.
The privilege I meet in those moments over and over again is to look and to cherish and to love and to think, oh gosh I am just so thankful for this little boy who is such a gift from the Lord. But the privilege is also to look and to love and to think…this is how the Lord loves me.
It seems this prone to wander heart of mine somehow manages to become unconvinced of God’s steadfast love. Like the helium that slowly escapes from the balloon my little one got at the store last week, without me being able to perceive it, slowly, slowly… there’s deflation in my heart.
I imperceptibly slide into a mindset where I feel “not good enough†and I tug my little branch away from the Abiding Vine. I feel like my performance has been poor and so I draw away from the One who loves me this much, because I think He can’t love me like this. I am busy sewing fig leaves to hide my heart, instead of saying Here I am, as I am…thank You that Your grace covers me.
In that cosy nursery finding socks and arranging blankets, experience tells me that no matter what the day has been like, whether the Bear was a lion or a lamb, still there is overwhelming joy and thankfulness, and so much love at the day’s end. And I realise that no matter how my performance has been on a particular day or week, I know the Lord’s love for me is still steadfast and true — more sturdy and steady than mine for my little one.
I’m thankful, as I tip-toe out and quietly close the door, to remember: He is the one who covers me with feathers and shields, gently caring, strongly protective. Whether I’m bum in the air and socks off tooting, on the wrong track or the right one, still the most profound truth I’ve learned remains: Yes, Jesus loves me.
xCC
Jan 26, 2011 | Stories, The Parenthood, Uncategorized
Forgive me. My brain gets song lyrics stuck in it on a regular basis, and it seems to be even worse during pregnancy. And this super upbeat 90s dance tune that goes Ahhh…yeahhay…wanna be my looover? is playing with the repeat button stuck down right now. Yuck. So please read the title to this post with that song as the background music. Perhaps it’s more appropriately written Wanna Name my Bay-bay? so that you can hear it the way I do.
Ahem. You now have my solemn promise that I won’t use the word lover in this space again for a really long time. I’ve never really liked that word.. It hits my dislike list close to the word packet, which for reasons I’m afraid I can’t explain, other than the way it sounds, is just a word I don’t like at all. So next time you throw a big conference, don’t put guest packets at the reception table. Please. I’m confident I’m not the only packet-disliker…I just haven’t met all the word choice soul mates who can stand with me on this one, yet. Speak up if you’re out there…this is getting awkward.
Okay, seriously.
Being from different cultures, countries, contexts and probably some other C-words I’m too tired to think of, the Hubs and I are struggling with the baby name selecting. And he actually suggested that I ask you, sweet friends and blog readers, for suggestions.
He might kind of look like this.
There’s not going to be a magical decision making reveal moment 24 hours after this post hits the web (we won’t make an official commitment until the baby arrives) and I’m afraid I can’t promise you’ll win a special prize if we choose a name you suggest. (Seeing as we don’t have any special prizes, and I think getting to name the kid is enough.)
We’re taking a couple of days off (leaving tomorrow and coming back Saturday) for one last hurrah as a family of three. (Well, we’re already a family of four, number four’s just still on the inside. You know what I mean.) I’ll tell you where we went and share photos when we get back, of course.
We won’t be accessing the internet, but I have a few posts lined up for you while we’re gone…and don’t worry, they’re much more serious and thought-provoking than this one. But in exchange, I think you sweet guys and gals should make some name suggestions for us to read when we get back. We could seriously use some ideas, if nothing else, just to get our creative juices going. But wouldn’t you feel extra special if we chose a name you suggested? I know I would.
But here are the rules:
- It has to be a boy name.
- You have to find out what it means, and put the name and meaning in a comment on this post.
- You have to think about how it sounds with our last name. For example, Oliver will get called Ollie Collie. And that would just stink.
In return, I have some {hopefully} encouraging words coming up for you over the next few days, even though I’ll be away! I’ve had the chance to do some more thinking and writing about Hosea 6:6, as promised a while ago — and I hope it’s going to bless you like it has blessed me. I can’t wait to read your name suggestions when we get back! YAY!
I’ll miss you guys. And I really mean that.
xCC
Jan 21, 2011 | Stories, The Parenthood
These days, he is my constant companion. Around 6:30 or 7 am he’s awake, and Hero Hubs fishes him out of his crib, and together we pile into our bed for however long he can stand it. Eventually, I’m finally willing to open my eyes, and his face is a few inches from mine, ready with one word: “Breck” {meaning breakfast}. I’m pretty easily convinced that we should get up for breakfast, because I’m hungry, too.
We are almost never more than a room or two apart from sun up to sun down.
When baking is on the list of things to accomplish, he stands on a chair in front of the counter, wooden spoon in hand and stirs while I scurry to toss in the ingredients. Chocolate chips disappear at warp speed, even when they’ve already been mixed in and have made their way into the muffin pan.
On some of my many, many trips to the bathroom, he’s there, standing on his tip toes to look into the sink. He has the black rubber sink stopper in his hands, and he is waiting for me to turn on the water to wash my hands, so that he can turn the sink stopper upside down and fill it with a little water, and then slowly pour it out. He’s eager to perform the special task of flushing, and he gently puts the lid down before we leave.
Just a few days ago, he watched me leave him in the nursery at the gym without crying. I normally have to sneak out once he’s settled. He watched me go with a bit of a sad face, but without tears. It felt like a huge moment in my Mommy heart; exciting and sore at the same time.
We’ve told him a Baby Brother is coming, and he knows where Baby Brother is. He occasionally tells Baby Brother, “Come!” or plays pee-tee-boo with my belly, covering his face with his hands.
Pee-tee-boooo!!!!
In the afternoons, he is often my excuse to get out of the heat and stroll to the pool. He begs me to put on his Mickey Mouse bathing suit. Even though HH and I think it looks dorky, he loves it.
“Mick Mouse, Mick Mouse, Mick Mooooooouse!!!”
Our washer and dryer are front loaders. These days, he loads the washer for me, and when it’s finished, he moves the clothes to the dryer for me. My aching back is silently thankful while I oversee and pull out things that shouldn’t go in the dryer. He doesn’t like it when things aren’t supposed to go in.
He is the reason I sometimes take a nap in the afternoons. But he’s sometimes the reason I don’t.
By five o’clock he’s tugging my apron strings in the kitchen, signing and asking for a cookie. Din-din seems terribly far away, but a little biscuit or a Bear-sized handful of Otees will usually do the trick.
These days he would rather draw on a blank page than a page with something on it. And he would rather tell you what he would like drawn than try to draw it himself.
G-pa! Buck! Mouse-ke-tools!
These days, after dinner and bathtime, we sometimes sit on the couch to read a book. I’m tired from carrying extra weight around all day, probably sore from standing up in the kitchen so much. I have his books memorized, so I can read with my eyes closed, but if I begin to doze off, his little face turns up to me with a simple command:
Wake!!
After saying prayers, we tuck him into his crib. He likes to have his two favourite blankies, and wants us to find the tags for him so that he can rub them between his fingers or across his lips. The days when blankies must go into the wash are not always pleasant.
We listen to him for the next hour sometimes, talking to himself or his baby cousin far away in Colorado. He sings and giggles and HH goes upstairs to encourage him to go to sleep.
These days, he’s sometimes the reason I’m tired. But sometimes he’s the reason I get a chance to rest. Sometimes he keeps me on my feet a lot more than I want to be, but sometimes he is the reason I go for a walk when I otherwise wouldn’t but really should.
These days, he is an incredible source of joy to us — a walking, talking, gleefully-squealing as he runs into a fence reminder of the blessings of God.
And these days, more than anything else, he is my constant reminder that these nine months…these forty weeks…these 280 days of knitting and growing, working and waiting, (and even waddling) are so, very, worth it.
xCC
Jan 10, 2011 | Stories, The Parenthood
A couple nights ago, heartburn and back pain combined to keep me awake a lot longer than I wanted to be. I scribbled down my thoughts in the moment, my journaling software marking the time as about 2:39 am. I sort of forgot about it and then found it just now, and thought you might find it amusing. Unscripted and unedited, this is me, pregnant and awake at 2 am.
I lay in bed awake after having visited the loo no less than five times in the past few hours. I am worried that it will clog if I don’t flush but worried that flushing will wake up the house, so I decide to go once more and use as little toilet paper as possible. (more…)
I create resources to help people find deeper, more meaningful relationships with God through pursuing, pondering, and prayer. The "Shop" link above will take you to the home of many of the lovely resources I’ve created to help you keep walking one day deeper with Jesus.