Dec 25, 2010 | Stories, The Parenthood
Late one evening three years ago, on a chilly Southern Christmas Eve, two little elves scurried out on a last minute errand. They hadn’t forgotten a gift or a card or an ingredient for a Christmas treat. On a tiny inkling, they tip-toed the aisles of a Walgreens, until they found what they were looking for.
Staring at boxes boasting early results and better accuracy, the elves discussed the choices quietly amongst themselves and came to an agreement. They gingerly presented the goods to the cashier, made their purchase, and hurried home.
Half an hour later they stood in an upstairs bedroom, staring at two pink lines for the second time in ten minutes. They laughed and cried and wondered and marveled at this special gift from above. The timing of this surprise discovery could not have been more magical. To this day the elves agree: that gift is by far the best Christmas gift they’ve ever received, bar One other Gift of immeasurable significance, which actually arrived in a similar fashion, around 2000 years earlier.
It feels safe to say the very best gifts don’t come in any boxes at all.
Merry Christmas,
xCC
Nov 13, 2010 | The Parenthood
Around these parts, after two wonderful weeks of having guests visiting all the way from the South, it seems that the place is a bit of a mess.
And with Hero Hubs feeling under the weather, and Mama Bear’s southern drawl hanging out, feeling a little happy-tired after all the excitement,
you *might* find that if you dropped by to see us just now, the Bear would be sitting on the kitchen counter, enjoying a scrumdiddlyumptious dinner,
which consists of a warmed-up homemade chocolate chip pancake and some of his favourite twirly noodles.*
*This isn’t a scene you’d come across very often around these parts, mind you. But would you believe he prefers the plain noodles to the choc-choc pancake? He signed and asked nicely for more noodles!
While there might be cause for concern based on nutritional value and sugar content, it seems, just for this evening, this little dinner was just right.
I know we’re not the only ones! When’s the last time you served (or ate) a dinner like this?
xCC
Nov 8, 2010 | Baby Photos, The Parenthood
After the time I spent pondering the ethics of prenatal testing and reading and thinking about all things prenatal, I might find it more exciting and special than the average pregger that baby has reached fetal viability. We’ve reached week 25 of this pregnancy, and knowing that babies can survive outside the womb, even as early as this, holds a whole host of thoughts and emotions for me. It is wonderful and exciting to think that we’ve made it so far, all seems well, and risk of miscarriage is significantly reduced. It is painful and sad to think, as kicks get stronger and movements bigger, that lives are still ended at this stage.
But it is even more wonderful and exciting to think that in dark and secret, someone fearfully and wonderfully planned before the dawn of creation is being knit together. He or she will change the world just by being a part of it. My world is forever different already.
And inside this envelope, there is written some news, already known to One Almighty, and one OB-GYN who wrote it down:
Will it be said of this little life He is changing the world or She is changing the world?
I stared at a stack of envelopes for a moment, as we were on our way out the door for the appointment. Pink and Blue stared back at me.
Knowing Hero Hubs and the Bear were waiting at the door, I sighed and smiled,
And chose purple.
May the Lord continue His good work, and may we rejoice to see it (and know of it) in His good timing.
xCC
Sep 21, 2010 | The Parenthood
To the best Mama the world has ever known:
We wish we could run your way just to say…
We hope you have a scrumdiddlyumptious day!
Cheers to the sweetest lil’ GC around…
Can’t wait till ‘together’ is where we’ll be found!
We love you today and all the year through…
dear Mama, sweet G.C., there’s no one like you!
(Tummies in and….)
Thank you so much, Mom, for being a gift, day after day! I am so, so thankful for who you are, and who you are for me!
Happy Birthday and heaps of love,
HH, CC and the Bear!
This post is linked up to Tuesdays Unwrapped. If there’s one gift I’m thankful for today and every day, it is the gift of a wonderful Mama!
Sep 12, 2010 | South Africa, The Parenthood
It is definitely SPRING in South Africa. Spring is here! We are thankful. And yesterday we decided to check out a nearby beach and take a few photos, showcasing a particularly important sign, carefully coloured by the Bear! Wanna see?
The beach we visited is a quick drive past Gordon’s Bay on the coastal road. There’s a wee hike down to get to it, but it is totally worth it. And, it. is. gorgeous.
Do I need to zoom in on the message? (Especially since it’s for grandparents!?!)
In case you’re struggling with legibility here, the message is: “Happy Grandparents Day!”
See?
Hero Hubs, the Bear and I would like to wish all the Bear’s (and the wee one on the way’s) wonderful grandparents on both sides of the pond a Happy Grandparents Day!
I tried to get the Bear to colour your special sign with lots of pretty colours, but all he wanted to use was blue. I think he was expressing his sentiments about being so far away from Guncka, Gammy, Gun-goo and G.C!
Although he is a little blue to not be spending Grandparent’s Day with you, he did still manage to enjoy our quick walk on the beach.
Touchdown!
Isn’t this a beautiful spot?
We tried to get him to hold the sign for one more shot…
I ended up getting soaked by a wave instead.
I promise I’ll have a pregnancy update for you soon, but this is the only pregger shot I have to share at the moment…
From the four of us to the four of you, Happy Grandparent’s Day!!
xCC
Aug 19, 2010 | The Good Word, The Parenthood
In case you’re wondering, the Bear had a delightful birthday yesterday! Thanks for all the well-wishes! I hope to have some pictures from the fabulous event here for you, soon!
Early one morning a few weeks ago, a little interaction went on inside my brain that has had me thinking for a while. The Bear got up early and after we ate our breakfast, I had a choice to make. The Bear wanted to watch TV, and at first I thought that might be a very good idea. Sometimes on Saturdays if the Bear gets up early and Hero Hubs and I want to sleep a little longer, we put a DVD in to keep him entertained. This could mean another 45 minutes or so of snoozing, which never hurts. And this weekday morning, another 30 – 45 minutes on the couch while the Bear was entertained sounded like a really good idea.
But then another thought came to mind: is this short-term decision lining up with my long-term goals? You see, one of my long-term goals is to raise the Bear (and other wee ones that come along) in such a way that he does not need to be entertained in order to be happy. I would like for him to learn to play with his books and toys and puzzles and not need the TV on all day long (or really at all). I realised that the decision to start snoozing in on weekdays with the Bear staring at the Wonder Pets or Veggie Tales could quickly become an everyday habit that would take months to break, and be tough for the Bear to say bye bye to.
This led me to begin thinking about the daily schedule that I have needed to spend time thinking through. The truth is, we only have so many hours in a day — only so many days on this earth, and if we don’t direct a decent portion of our time to achieving our goals, we just won’t achieve them. There’s some writing on my heart that is bigger than a blog post, but if I don’t set time aside for it, it won’t happen. I want a strong marriage, but if I fail to plan time to spend quality time with my husband, we run the risk of failing to cultivate a healthy and growing relationship. I want the Bear to know that he can come to me at any time — I want to build a healthy relationship with him, too — so I purposefully spend time reading to him, taking him for walks, and even just playing with him.
How many times have you looked at the clock and realised you just wasted a half hour on Facebook? Maybe longer? Or how often have you been drawn in to watching a movie on TV you’ve already seen twice? Did you end up going to bed later than you intended? And because of it you ended up waking up later than you planned, maybe finding yourself unable to spend time in prayer or reading the Word? Were you tired all day, too? The thing is, if we don’t decide how we’re going to spend our time, something else will decide for us. If you have goals you want to achieve, odds are, a lot of those goals aren’t going to be achieved while you’re on Facebook.
So teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
{Psalm 90:12}
A lot of folks personally responded to me recently saying that it was time to stop existing and start living again. While I probably have a book’s worth of suggestions for making that transition, I think one thing that makes a lot of us come alive is taking the time to think about what we’re passionate about, and then making a plan for how to make that a part of our lives. Do you need to set aside a few hours a week to volunteer in a Crisis Pregnancy Centre? Is there a book on your heart you could spend thirty minutes a day beginning to put on paper? May you need to get your mountain bike out of the garage, and make getting out there a priority on your schedule.
Whatever the passion, whatever that come-alive thing is that your day has been missing, let today be the day that you grab the bull by the horns and plan to make the dream a reality. Put it in your schedule and stick to it. Ask someone to hold you accountable.
I am confident you’ll feel a lot more like getting out of bed in the morning if you’re living your life, instead of life living you.
xCC
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