We’ve been trying to teach Belle how to smile nice, aka, “say cheese” when taking her picture. Usually she looks like a crabby monster. But lately she’s been getting the hang of it. Well kind of.

She looks to be a little shy here. Believe me, it’s all an act!

There she goes. That’s a pretty good “cheese”.

Whoa! Settle down there kiddo!

Yikes! I can see the headlines now: “Monster baby found - four teeth in, two on the way!”

Owlhaven has started a series in which she is sharing the story of how her and her husband met and fell in love. She’s invited anyone to join in on the fun.

When I read her invitation my heart sank. Yes, I do have an amazing love story. But there’s no way I can share it because me and Hubby’s relationship started out pretty crummy.

But then I read Romans 8:1 and my life verse Ephesians 3:14-21. Again. For the millionith time I think. And I’ll continue to read them over and over because often times I start to believe the lie that I am worth nothing and that my past defines me. Although Hubby and I did make some major mistakes our past does not define us. We have been forgiven and healed through the power of Jesus. And someday when my children ask, “How did you and daddy meet and fall in love” I’m going to be completely honest with them and share not only our love story, but a love story that’s 100 times better. The love story of our Savior.

Sooo what I’m trying to say is I’m going to take you up on your offer Owlhaven. And share our love story. And maybe. Just maybe, there’s someone out there struggling in the same circumstance I found myself in and can find hope and healing.

So here goes:

The year was 2001. I was married. I was infertile. I was sad and angry and frustrated and full of despair. I was mad at God. I was mad at the world. Although you couldn’t tell it by the plastered smile on my face. I had an amazing job and was focused on working my way up the corporate ladder. At this amazing job I had I made a friend. A guy friend. A guy friend that would change my life forever.

To be continued…

…not like I’m counting or anything.

10 weeks is all I have left until I’m full term.

Yikes. Saying 10 weeks sounds alot scarier than 7 1/2 months.

Just like everything else in life - time always goes so fast. Day to day it doesn’t seem like it. But when you look back you realize how each day is so short and before we know it it’s over.

We had our last Bradley class this week. That was sad because we have an awesome group of couples and it’s been so much fun. We’re actually having a movie night next week at our house (to watch The Business of Being Born) but not everyone can make it. We learned so much. It’s been awesome to see Hubby take charge of his responsibility of being my coach.

We also had a tour this week of the hospital where we’ll give birth. The one thing about Bradley class is that the material almost sets you up expecting you are going to have to battle doctors and nurses in trying to go natural. But in doing our tour that’s not at all what was communicated to us. The nurse that gave us the tour was amazing. She spoke of alot of the same things that we’ve already learned and it was such a relief to know they will do everything they can to give us the birth we want. Sometimes things are just out of our (and their) control.

Anyway - you should have seen Hubby. Asking tons of questions - some I’d never even thought to ask. I was so proud! He’s going to be a great coach.

I’m a little stressed out thinking about “10 weeks” because I have some huge projects I’m working on at work. I know life will go on and things will be just fine if I don’t get to the place of completion that I’m hoping too but it’s real important to me to finish what I’ve started. Unfortunately some of it is out of my control and some of it is just annoying because I’m so darn tired.

I’m not as fearful about the whole giving birth thing since doing the hospital tour. Yes, I’m still a little fearful, just because I’m a planner and unfortunately this thing called child birth can’t really be planned. So I’m praying that I would give those fears to the Lord and trust Him through whatever happens.

Honestly I’m more fearful about coming home after Little Pip gets here. Thinking about that makes me want to throw up. I know I can’t do alot now because of my back and hopefully I’ll feel alot better afterwards but thinking about having Belle and Little Pip and getting everything done and well ya know, staying sane, now that makes me fearful. Mom, Sister… are you sure you don’t want to come live with us forever? I’m not even trying to be Super Mom here. But I don’t even think I’ve gotten my rhythm down in caring for Belle and balancing everything else, let alone adding a newborn to the mix.

Along with the stress and fear I’m so excited. It’s very weird having all those feelings at once. Especially now that I can “see” Little Pip. He bounces my belly so much and just trying to put your mind around the fact that inside my tummy is a real live person. It’s just amazing. (If you were blessed to carry a child please don’t ever forgot how amazing it was.) And now that Hubby can “see” Little Pip too he’s getting more and more excited. After our hospital tour he came home from work and said, “I’m SO excited to see our baby!”.

Belle has a Cabbage Patch baby and so every day we practice holding the baby and kissing the baby and “being nice” to the baby. And then she’ll grab her by the hair and swing her around the room. Seriously. So we have a little work to do still. I’m sure she’ll be fine though. Hubby’s mom watches Belle during the day and she also watches Belle’s cousin who is 3 months old. It’s been such a blessing for Belle to spend that time with her cousin and see Grama holding and feeding and taking care of her. In the beginning Belle tried to poke her eyes out but I think she’s past that!

Sorry I didn’t get a picture taken this week. Not a whole lot to see. I still have a big tummy. I still have people tell me I seem small for being so far along. I look at them and laugh. Crazy people!

Guess who’s not in South Africa anymore!

Remember how you prayed for my brother’s girlfriend Leana? Well our prayers have been answered and she’s home!

Ya! Belle is excited!

She’s not so sure about Uncle Jim though!

We love you L and are so happy to have you home!

I think y’all have met the Prankster. If not, you can read about him here and here.

The Prankster is a freshman in college and he and Princess have been close friends for some time. As their relationship started to developed into possibly more than just friends Hubby decided to impose quite a strict rule regarding their level of communication.

They couldn’t. Communicate.

Yes, you read it correctly. No Facebook. No phone. No texting. No email. No IM.

From September 1st until November 1st the ONLY way they are allowed to communicate is through writing letters. Ya know, like paper and pen and an envelope and a stamp.

At first Hubby imposed this rule for the entire first semester - four months! As much as I love and respect him I had to question his sanity. So he graciously agreed to just the first two months of the semester.

The interesting thing is that Princess didn’t even really complain. Well, maybe a little right in the beginning but both Princess and Prankster were willing to abide by Hubby’s rule. Now they could certainly be cheating. (If you guys are cheating you are so dead). But I don’t think they are.  They usually write 3-4 times a week and by the size of the envelopes these letters are like 23 pages long.

And honestly, I’m a little jealous. If I got a letter from Hubby, even a one page letter, well let me just say I would be a very smitten wife and Hubby would be glad he wrote me a letter. It’s just so romantic and maybe that’s why Princess didn’t really complain about it.

Email and texting and Facebook are great and all but really, do you get to know a person through those means of communication?  But being able to write letters, share thoughts and feelings and frustrations and joys and whatever else, now that is communicating. Not to mention the excitement of checking the mail and getting more than a bill or credit card offer!

It’s a treasure that’s been lost. So today, I challenge you to write a letter. Or send a card. Let someone know that you love them and are thinking of them and are praying for them. I just know it will make their day!

I hope if this movie is playing in your town or nearby that you take time this weekend to see it…preferably with your spouse! Unfortunately it’s not playing in our town but I’m trying to convince Hubby to drive two hours to see it!

Have a great weekend!

Joys:

Having a chance to go to the bathroom by myself.

Not having to share my snack or my lunch or my water or my milk or my snack.

Not having to say “No” or “Ucky” every two minutes.

Giving my aching muscles a little rest from lifting.

Not having to pick up that toy or cracker a hundred times in a row.

Not having to tell the dog every 2 minutes, “quick licking the baby”.

Sorrows (honestly, too many to list):

Not having someone to talk to when I go to the bathroom.

Not seeing the cheesy smile of my girl when I share my snack or my lunch or my water or my milk or my snack.

Not being the one to teach her what “no” and “ucky” means.

Possibly missing a “first”.

Nut getting hugs. Anytime. Anywhere.

No kisses. Sloppy, open mouth, often food filled kisses. But still wonderful precious kisses.

Not being there to comfort when she falls or bumps her head.

Not being able to help her learn how to pick up her own toys and be “mommy’s big helper”.

Not seeing Belle squeal and kick her legs with delight every single time she sees the doggies.

Not being able to take a nap together.

Knowing that if I could I would trade every joy of going to work to be home with my baby.

 

Our baby girl has turned into mommy’s big helper. Literally overnight it seems. It’s so amazing to see their minds and personalities grow and change and develop.

For the past few months Belle has been helping me with laundry. I put the clothes in the basket and she takes them all out and throws them around the room. Helping, right?!?  Well lately, she has been taking the clothes out of the basket and handing them to me. I can’t fold them fast enough! But what a good helper - especially since I can hardly bend over to get the clothes out of the basket.

The other day we were working in her bedroom. It’s a complete mess. I have boxes and boxes of her old clothes that no longer fit. And some clothes for Little Pip that someone gave us. And Pip’s car seat. And some of Belle’s “baby toys. And her toys she plays with now. And who knows what else.

So I was trying to organize the chaos, put her freshly washed clothes away, put Pip’s clothes away, etc. First she handed me every piece of clothing. And then she started handing me hangers. I had a huge pile of hangers on the floor and she would hand them to me one at a time. I wasn’t ready to use them yet so I would say, “Thank you” and put them on the other side of me. When she got through the pile of hangers she went over to the other side of me and started the process again! We did this at least 5 times. You should have seen the look on her face. She just knew that she was mommy’s big helper!

Normally in the morning when it’s time for her bottle she’ll just spit out her pacifier and it goes flying. But lately she’s been waiting patiently for mommy to get comfortable. I hand her the bottle. She takes out her pacifier and hands it to me. 

Oh, my heart can only take so much!

Some other ways she’s trying to be a big helper:

Helping the doggies eat their food.

Helping the doggies drink their water.

“Cleaning” the toilet.

“Taking out” the garbage.

Turning the tv channel for us. And sometimes trying to order a movie on Pay Per View!

As amazing as it is to see her grow and change and develop how I wish she could stay my baby forever.

I’m glad you stopped by today because this tip is going to rock your world.

Just kidding. If this rocks your world you really need to get out more.

I have to first give a disclaimer that I’ve actually only taken my own advice regarding this tip two times. But the two times I did do it, it worked marvously.

Ok, on to the good stuff….

Anyone else struggle with finding time to blog every single day? Or even every other day? I love to write and spill my guts to complete strangers but who has the time, right?

Well one day I realized that you can schedule posts to publish at a different time (at least on WordPress, not sure about others?).

So once a week I’ll take a few hours to myself and spend that time writing my posts for the coming week. I’ll schedule them all ahead of time so I have a post publishing every day or every other day. And then I’m done blogging for the week. Well, unless you count the many hours spent reading other peoples’ blogs. Then I guess I still have blogging to do but still, half my work is done!

Now I just need to come up with a tip on how to get those few hours to myself!

Don’t forgot to stop by Rocks in My Dryer for other ideas and suggestions.

So ok, I’ll share some random stuff about me. I’m sure it’s stuff you’ve been dying to know…

1. I’m a scribbler. I didn’t realize scribbling was an inherited trait but I know that I got it from my mom because she’s a scribbler too. On the phone. Just hanging out talking with someone. I have to be scribbling. And it’s not like 6 year old scribbling. It’s usually hearts and diamonds…all connected together. And sometimes smiley faces. And sometimes my name. See, like this. Although this picture doesn’t do justice - it’s the only one I could find. Usually the entire page is re-written over and over and has stars and hearts and who knows what else!

2. I still have my very first stuffed animal. Well, that I can remember anyway. I’m sure I probably had a little bear or doll or something when I was a baby. But this is the first stuffed animal I remember getting. His name is Gargamel. Like from the Smurfs. Ya know, the blue people. Jeez, I’m old. Anyway, I just found him the other day underneath our bed. Poor guy. He got a good washing and has now been passed down to Belle who surprisingly isn’t scared of him.

3. I love sheep. Ok, maybe you knew that. I grew up on a sheep farm. You probably knew that too. Thus the “lots of sheep” in my email. When I was growing up on a sheep farm my dream was to become a veternarian. That soon faded when I realized you had to actually pass biology. I can’t really say I had a favorite part about growing up on a sheep farm. Probably just the time spent helping mom and dad - whether it was feeding the bottle lambs, giving shots, castarating (yes, that was fun for us too for some reason), or helping some of the mama’s deliver their lambs. Us kids, with our scrawny arms, had the pleasure of actually sticking our hand/arm up the mama when a baby was stuck.

No matter what we were doing it was like we were really important. The farm wouldn’t survive without us kids. Now I’m not sure how much of that is true but as a 10 year old it makes you feel pretty special.

And so it was with great joy that I found this book for Belle. A book that combines my first love with Hubby’s first love:

Although Hubby doesn’t like it because the sheep crash the Jeep. Hee hee.

4. What annoys me? Oh, I thought you’d never ask!

How about when someone (not naming names) finishes a box of cereal or a gallon or milk or pretty much anything in any type of container. And instead of putting it in the garbage or recylce bin where it goes they put it on the counter. If the garbage is too full for it to fit well then change the garbage for goodness sakes. But really, I love serving my family in this way. Really.

When someone (again, not naming names) leaves the closet door in our bathroom open. EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING.

The dogs. I used to love our dogs. I consider myself a dog person. But I cannot stand our dogs (not you Charlie). Since Belle came home they are so very needy and insecure - especially Allie. And she’s always licking. UG! I can’t stand it and some days it’s enough to make me lose my mind. Not to mention the dog hair. That’s a whole nother story.

Ok, that’s probably enough. This isn’t suppose to be a crabby post!

5. Give me a crowd any day. Whether I’m performing a skit or monologue, sharing my testimony or facilitating a training session, I am much more comfortable getting up in front of a large group than I am meeting one on one with someone (unless that someone is a close friend, then it’s not so bad).

6. I’ve bungee jumped. You probably already know that if you read my 100 Things post. However you wouldn’t know that I was extremely sun burned when I did it. EXTREMELY. They almost didn’t let me go because they were afraid it would be too painful. I was too scared to feel any pain though. And actually they had to tell me to jump twice. They say “3 2 1 BUNGEE!” and you’re suppose to fall backwards. I just stood there. But the second time I did it.

I have yet to sky dive but that’s my next goal. Although now with kiddos it kinda changes your perspective on those things. At least someone in my family is still defying death.

I really hate to end on #6. That’s pretty lame. But I’m tired and for the life of me I can’t think of anything else that you wouldn’t already know about me. Now that’s lame. Or scary. Or both. Night all.