My main consideration is the resurrection of this blog space. I didn't walk away on purpose ... at that point, life was busy, wild, and in flux (as life has a way of being). We had a brand new babe, had just made a major move, and Tim took a new call. Fast forward two years later...
Life, now, with a 2yo and a 5yo is certainly not a calm and quiet space, but looking back, I miss having a space to reflect on this life with my husband and these amazing little beings ... and a place where I can muse about what I believe, wonder, and hope for. This blog provided such a space for me; a little room carved out to reflect and remember.
So, yes, a resurrection may be in the works. I am hesitant to make promises, because life does have a lot of demands and I'm not great at keeping promises ... but I will put forth an intention. (How very new-agey of me, yes? Glad to be of service.) ;)
8.05.2013
7.28.2011
embracing the chaos!
Wow, I definitely need to update this thing, but life has been a whirlwind of busyness and life changes for the last month or so ...
First and foremost - we have a son! Soren James joined us on June 9, a good 11 or so days after his latest estimated due date. It took going to the hospital and having my water broken (even that proved a little tricky due to how he was positioned), but 5 hours later ... we had an 8lb 12oz boy!
Two weeks after his birth, Soren took his first plane ride to Cleveland, Ohio where my dad got married to his fiance, Linda! It was a wonderful and blessed event and a great chance for everyone to meet our little guy. They honeymooned on Mackinac Island and traveled around northern Michigan afterwards. We saw friends and family from all around and Maggie enjoyed lots of pool time with her cousins. Wish we could get back to MI this summer, but it's not looking very likely...
A little over a week later (as we packed frantically), we made the big push and moved to Catonsville, MD! The church sent people to our place in Easton and greeted us with about a million more and they moved us into our beautiful townhouse. Tim hit the ground running at Salem - in fact, this week he is off at confirmation camp - and people have been wonderfully nice, welcoming and supportive. I made several trips back to the eastern shore for moving odds and ends, cleaning, and pediatrician appointments, but now... we're pretty much settled in. Yeah there are a few boxes that still need to be finished, but we're close.
I know, I know ... it's a speedy update for a speedy last month or so. Soren is 7 weeks old today and a totally sweet guy. Going thru a bit of a fussy stage (for him), but I also understand this is a common time for growth spurts. He sleeps well, eats well, is growing like a weed ... we are blessed. I am also registered for fall classes (just 2 this time around ... statistics and career development) and one of my next projects is to find child care for him and Maggie on Wednesdays.
It's a wild wild time... I guess the really big stuff is done, but I'm still hanging on for dear life... :)
First and foremost - we have a son! Soren James joined us on June 9, a good 11 or so days after his latest estimated due date. It took going to the hospital and having my water broken (even that proved a little tricky due to how he was positioned), but 5 hours later ... we had an 8lb 12oz boy!
Two weeks after his birth, Soren took his first plane ride to Cleveland, Ohio where my dad got married to his fiance, Linda! It was a wonderful and blessed event and a great chance for everyone to meet our little guy. They honeymooned on Mackinac Island and traveled around northern Michigan afterwards. We saw friends and family from all around and Maggie enjoyed lots of pool time with her cousins. Wish we could get back to MI this summer, but it's not looking very likely...
A little over a week later (as we packed frantically), we made the big push and moved to Catonsville, MD! The church sent people to our place in Easton and greeted us with about a million more and they moved us into our beautiful townhouse. Tim hit the ground running at Salem - in fact, this week he is off at confirmation camp - and people have been wonderfully nice, welcoming and supportive. I made several trips back to the eastern shore for moving odds and ends, cleaning, and pediatrician appointments, but now... we're pretty much settled in. Yeah there are a few boxes that still need to be finished, but we're close.
I know, I know ... it's a speedy update for a speedy last month or so. Soren is 7 weeks old today and a totally sweet guy. Going thru a bit of a fussy stage (for him), but I also understand this is a common time for growth spurts. He sleeps well, eats well, is growing like a weed ... we are blessed. I am also registered for fall classes (just 2 this time around ... statistics and career development) and one of my next projects is to find child care for him and Maggie on Wednesdays.
It's a wild wild time... I guess the really big stuff is done, but I'm still hanging on for dear life... :)
5.04.2011
patience, please? Please? PLEASE??!
C'mon.
I have heard people say you shouldn't pray for patience because God will serve you up plenty of ... ahem, opportunities to practice patience. And maybe tearing our hair out. Geez, God, way to kick us while we're down...
I don't really think God does that... lol... but I am praying for patience these days. Maggie is such a sweet and loving and silly and smart little girl, but at bedtime she transforms into the most persistent, rotten and insane little thing. She fights and fights. No rationality will do. We try ignoring. We try setting boundaries. We try cuddling to meet her needs. We try talking about it. We try reciting the rules. We try praying with her for peace. We try... we try... we try...
And we're tearing our hair out.
Some of these things work. Sometimes. Some nights. For the last several, nothing has worked until we're all miserable/screaming/in tears. Nobody is winning.
So I pray for patience: that I may not lose it with her... that I may look at her and only love her... that I may put myself in her shoes and feel compassion... that I may be firm and gentle and not regret the words that come out of my mouth far too easily... that she may move out of this "stage" and not be so angry/afraid/demanding/difficult...
I pray for patience.
I have heard people say you shouldn't pray for patience because God will serve you up plenty of ... ahem, opportunities to practice patience. And maybe tearing our hair out. Geez, God, way to kick us while we're down...
I don't really think God does that... lol... but I am praying for patience these days. Maggie is such a sweet and loving and silly and smart little girl, but at bedtime she transforms into the most persistent, rotten and insane little thing. She fights and fights. No rationality will do. We try ignoring. We try setting boundaries. We try cuddling to meet her needs. We try talking about it. We try reciting the rules. We try praying with her for peace. We try... we try... we try...
And we're tearing our hair out.
Some of these things work. Sometimes. Some nights. For the last several, nothing has worked until we're all miserable/screaming/in tears. Nobody is winning.
So I pray for patience: that I may not lose it with her... that I may look at her and only love her... that I may put myself in her shoes and feel compassion... that I may be firm and gentle and not regret the words that come out of my mouth far too easily... that she may move out of this "stage" and not be so angry/afraid/demanding/difficult...
I pray for patience.
4.24.2011
what works for you?
... Do that.
And (maybe even) celebrate that!
I am definitely stubborn and have some aspirations as a mama (but really, who doesn't?), but this really spoke to me today.
http://www.starkravingmadmommy.com/2011/04/what-works-for-you.html
Her blog is always really hilariously wonderful and insightful, but preach it sister! - couldn't we ALL do with a little less judgment and a little more support??
I think the answer is a resounding YES!
And (maybe even) celebrate that!
I am definitely stubborn and have some aspirations as a mama (but really, who doesn't?), but this really spoke to me today.
http://www.starkravingmadmommy.com/2011/04/what-works-for-you.html
Her blog is always really hilariously wonderful and insightful, but preach it sister! - couldn't we ALL do with a little less judgment and a little more support??
I think the answer is a resounding YES!
4.18.2011
humor
So, my 2.5 yo has always had a silly streak, but today we got a taste of what it looks like to have Magdalena Dawn mess with you and joke with you - intentionally. :)
She and I looked at a website with compact car seats a few days ago. Tim & I are just *over* moving the carseat back and forth (and back and forth) between our cars - never you mind having to do that with two (!) in a couple more weeks. So we decided it was worth our sanity to invest in a set for his lil car. I found a brand I liked and asked Maggie which color she liked. She picked out orange to go with baby bro/sis's limey green one I had already picked out. But later today, as she was getting loopier and loopier pre-nap time, she declared (through giggles she could scarcely hold back) that she wanted a stinky carseat.
"What?" I asked her, "A stinky carseat?"
"A STINKY CARSEAT!" she howled, giggling... and within 5 minutes or so, was fast asleep, perhaps dreaming of what a stinky carseat would involve. :)
Tonight during prayers, she listed the "regulars" who she needs to pray for (these are generally her pals from church, and especially her babysitter's kids) and then she threw mommy and daddy and baby brother/baby sister a bone.
So I prayed, "We pray for mommy and baby and daddy..."
And she said, laughing, "He wears a dress!!"
"Daddy?" I asked. "We pray that Daddy wears a dress?"
And, oh how she laughed and said, "YES, to wear a DRESS!"
Oh prayer time, what a riot you can be! God has got to have a sense of humor to listen to the prayers of 2yos! Mind you, I have one darn funny kid, if I do say so myself. Or maybe I just spend all day with a 2yo... and my brain is mush. But it works for me. I have been giggling about her new-found joke cracking all day. :)
PS. And we're super excited that our nieces were born last Wednesday and Thursday!! Amy gave birth to Natalie Lorena Wednesday afternoon and a little over 24 hours later, Megan welcomed Charlotte (Charlie) Louise into the world! So exciting - and it makes our baby's arrival seem all the more imminent! With that in mind, I worked on a pretty simple birth plan tonight. Babe will be here before we know it...
She and I looked at a website with compact car seats a few days ago. Tim & I are just *over* moving the carseat back and forth (and back and forth) between our cars - never you mind having to do that with two (!) in a couple more weeks. So we decided it was worth our sanity to invest in a set for his lil car. I found a brand I liked and asked Maggie which color she liked. She picked out orange to go with baby bro/sis's limey green one I had already picked out. But later today, as she was getting loopier and loopier pre-nap time, she declared (through giggles she could scarcely hold back) that she wanted a stinky carseat.
"What?" I asked her, "A stinky carseat?"
"A STINKY CARSEAT!" she howled, giggling... and within 5 minutes or so, was fast asleep, perhaps dreaming of what a stinky carseat would involve. :)
Tonight during prayers, she listed the "regulars" who she needs to pray for (these are generally her pals from church, and especially her babysitter's kids) and then she threw mommy and daddy and baby brother/baby sister a bone.
So I prayed, "We pray for mommy and baby and daddy..."
And she said, laughing, "He wears a dress!!"
"Daddy?" I asked. "We pray that Daddy wears a dress?"
And, oh how she laughed and said, "YES, to wear a DRESS!"
Oh prayer time, what a riot you can be! God has got to have a sense of humor to listen to the prayers of 2yos! Mind you, I have one darn funny kid, if I do say so myself. Or maybe I just spend all day with a 2yo... and my brain is mush. But it works for me. I have been giggling about her new-found joke cracking all day. :)
PS. And we're super excited that our nieces were born last Wednesday and Thursday!! Amy gave birth to Natalie Lorena Wednesday afternoon and a little over 24 hours later, Megan welcomed Charlotte (Charlie) Louise into the world! So exciting - and it makes our baby's arrival seem all the more imminent! With that in mind, I worked on a pretty simple birth plan tonight. Babe will be here before we know it...
4.13.2011
breath of life
Oddly enough, this was our theme for our Lenten Taize worship tonight...
I say "oddly" because all day long, I have been quite short on breath. According to my midwife the other week (and Dr. O'brien, today) babers is likely in position, but keeps bouncing him or herself into my rib cage region and I find myself seriously short on breath from time to time. I remember this happening with Maggie, but when it first started happening this time, I found myself kind of spooked. I wasn't exerting myself or trying to do too much - I just couldn't breathe. If ever there was something to make you panic... and then exacerbate that panic ... not being able to BREATHE might just be it!
So mid-afternoon, I laid myself pregnant self down for a quick rest ... we'd been up in the night previously with a night-terroring Magdalena :( ... and though I still was short of breath, I found it was much easier to "catch it" when I slowed it waaaaaay down.
Breeeeathe in .... breeeeathe out. Repeat. Slowly.
It helped to calm me and get me what I needed and I even got to doze for a few and let go of the day for a bit.
When I woke up, I was feeling better. Calmer. Able to catch my breath. Maybe the babers shifted a bit while I slumbered, maybe my slowing things down made a difference. But then I got to thinking about how busy this life has been in the last few weeks. We've had a whirlwind of weeks with birthdays (Tim's and mine), visitors (my sister and her crew), homework/finals/projects, trips to the western shore, and just general busy-ness! Not to mention the daunting realization that babers is set to arrive in about 7 weeks or so. And that comes with a list of "to dos" - though less than we got in order for Maggs. But WOW. Not only is it hard to physically catch our breath at 8 months preggers, but life doesn't slow down for anyone!
So tonight at Taize, we heard the story of God breathing life into his creation and then Jesus breathing life and healing back into a child. And I was just struck ... that God not only created us, but promises to sustain us ... in a busy life, in a busy world, in busy people who are creating and sustaining life! I can't believe - God willing - how quickly that little life will be with us, in my arms... likely after I myself do some very labored breathing to get that little one from life on the inside to life on the outside!
Of course, I pray it will take several more weeks, as I have a semester to get through and I want our babe fully cooked, healthy, and ready to breathe on it's own. I also pray for my sisters-in-law, Megan and Amy, who are waiting on late little girls. They were both due 4/7 and their wait continues. Luckily they are healthy and their babes are healthy ... but they, too, are learning all about slowing down and waiting.
Breeeeeathe in, breeeeeathe out. Repeat. Slowly.
Slowly.
I say "oddly" because all day long, I have been quite short on breath. According to my midwife the other week (and Dr. O'brien, today) babers is likely in position, but keeps bouncing him or herself into my rib cage region and I find myself seriously short on breath from time to time. I remember this happening with Maggie, but when it first started happening this time, I found myself kind of spooked. I wasn't exerting myself or trying to do too much - I just couldn't breathe. If ever there was something to make you panic... and then exacerbate that panic ... not being able to BREATHE might just be it!
So mid-afternoon, I laid myself pregnant self down for a quick rest ... we'd been up in the night previously with a night-terroring Magdalena :( ... and though I still was short of breath, I found it was much easier to "catch it" when I slowed it waaaaaay down.
Breeeeathe in .... breeeeathe out. Repeat. Slowly.
It helped to calm me and get me what I needed and I even got to doze for a few and let go of the day for a bit.
When I woke up, I was feeling better. Calmer. Able to catch my breath. Maybe the babers shifted a bit while I slumbered, maybe my slowing things down made a difference. But then I got to thinking about how busy this life has been in the last few weeks. We've had a whirlwind of weeks with birthdays (Tim's and mine), visitors (my sister and her crew), homework/finals/projects, trips to the western shore, and just general busy-ness! Not to mention the daunting realization that babers is set to arrive in about 7 weeks or so. And that comes with a list of "to dos" - though less than we got in order for Maggs. But WOW. Not only is it hard to physically catch our breath at 8 months preggers, but life doesn't slow down for anyone!
So tonight at Taize, we heard the story of God breathing life into his creation and then Jesus breathing life and healing back into a child. And I was just struck ... that God not only created us, but promises to sustain us ... in a busy life, in a busy world, in busy people who are creating and sustaining life! I can't believe - God willing - how quickly that little life will be with us, in my arms... likely after I myself do some very labored breathing to get that little one from life on the inside to life on the outside!
Of course, I pray it will take several more weeks, as I have a semester to get through and I want our babe fully cooked, healthy, and ready to breathe on it's own. I also pray for my sisters-in-law, Megan and Amy, who are waiting on late little girls. They were both due 4/7 and their wait continues. Luckily they are healthy and their babes are healthy ... but they, too, are learning all about slowing down and waiting.
Breeeeeathe in, breeeeeathe out. Repeat. Slowly.
Slowly.
3.09.2011
lent begins
I am a traveler on the way
to a sacred place
where God holds me
in the palm of his hand.
-Henri Nouwen
I am hopeful, that over the next 40 days of Lent, I will be aware of this. I don't have an exact discipline specified - that is, something given up or a specific practice added to my life. However, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to carve out space for God and living with intention and making an effort for peace. Peace within myself and peace in this world. What does it mean to wait? And to be OK in the waiting? Where does simplifying come in? Where does space set apart come in, especially when that just doesn't seem practical?
I know - big questions. And without a mission statement/goal, can I possibly succeed? Am I being over-ambitious? Well, I pray with God's help that I will begin carving out some time and space to discover what I need. I look at this Lenten season as a beginning to more intention, more trust, more patience. I trust that I may indeed be moved - if I let myself be open to God's movement in my life...
I am beginning by reading "Gifts from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I was given it for Christmas and had not really looked at it since then, but randomly picked it up last night. What a timely offering placed in front of me. To my surprise, it explores a lot of the themes I mentioned above and for that, I say thank you, God. Way to toss it in my path!
to a sacred place
where God holds me
in the palm of his hand.
-Henri Nouwen
I am hopeful, that over the next 40 days of Lent, I will be aware of this. I don't have an exact discipline specified - that is, something given up or a specific practice added to my life. However, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to carve out space for God and living with intention and making an effort for peace. Peace within myself and peace in this world. What does it mean to wait? And to be OK in the waiting? Where does simplifying come in? Where does space set apart come in, especially when that just doesn't seem practical?
I know - big questions. And without a mission statement/goal, can I possibly succeed? Am I being over-ambitious? Well, I pray with God's help that I will begin carving out some time and space to discover what I need. I look at this Lenten season as a beginning to more intention, more trust, more patience. I trust that I may indeed be moved - if I let myself be open to God's movement in my life...
I am beginning by reading "Gifts from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I was given it for Christmas and had not really looked at it since then, but randomly picked it up last night. What a timely offering placed in front of me. To my surprise, it explores a lot of the themes I mentioned above and for that, I say thank you, God. Way to toss it in my path!
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