Nested and Waiting

Can't remember if I shared a picture of this quilt I made for Baby.

It's been ready and waiting for the past few months, and its colorful rainbow
stripes make me smile and think of this special little person when I look at it.

Life gets a little more hectic with each addition which is why it feels important
for me to acknowledge each precious new life.  There is not the same kind of
waiting for an eighth child as there is for a first.
Not that an eighth baby is less appreciated, just more eclipsed by daily life.
In fact, I'd say there's greater expectancy and eager anticipation in our household
because of the excitement generated by 7 big brothers and sisters!

Anyway, this bunny is the softest, most floppy and wonderful stuffed animal
I remember ever meeting!  It was my sole purchase on recent introduction to
a local Anthropology store (I'm hooked!).
Adding a bow and perching him on top of the colorful pile completed my
New Baby stash with panache :-)

Baby, I hope you know how much I love you!

I'd say the sewing projects have come to a rest.  I've still been chipping away
at some art projects I started a while back, and am continuing to make our
bedroom a comfortable retreat.  Fluffing feathers here and there, you know.

Here is a smattering of the things I've completed for my own babe as
well as a few for his or her newly arrived friends.

It must be winter. Ha!  Look at all the COLOR!






















I want to thank the Lord for the sweetness of sleep.  I don't remember the last time in 12 years
that I was getting over 8 hours of sleep every night, and that's what I'm getting right now.
I really thought it would be short-lived and that I was due at least a few weeks of being miserable
at night with grinding joints and the endless rolling-over process, not to mention regular
midnight treks to the bathroom.
Not so.

I'd like to credit the sporadic efforts at my T-Tapp workout in the last 8 months on and
off for lack of discomfort in certain regions, and I'd like to credit my easy temper
and lack of basket-case-ness to the increased sleep, but...

The truth is, I have no idea why I'm being blessed with such a peaceful, calm pregnancy.

All I can say is wow.  Thank you again Lord!  It is You and only You that covers me with
your hand of favor and sweet blessing!  
Glory is His alone.

Today I'm 39 weeks.
I have everything I need for this new baby, including some frivolous items I'm sure we
don't need but are fun to have :-)  There is a good little snow storm blowing in fresh
white drifts tonight, and with a pantry and fridge well stocked I feel ready to hunker
down and dream of soon.
Baby-Coming soon.
It may be another week or two; it could be tonight.  I'm content.  Ready.  Eager.

Wanting Oh-so-much to be holding this baby in my arms instead of the pod-like
compartment which is fast running out of space.

Soon would be fine with me :-)

Lori Makes a Friend

This is Myrtle.

Myrtle belongs to Zachary, along with two yellow fella's named Burt and Barney.

Myrtle is the most gregarious of the three birds, and Aloria hasn't been bashful about reaching
out to her.

AJ says this would be the perfect pirate picture Arrrrgh!  We wonder who's holding who?

It looks to me like Myrtle is in charge, but Aloria is certainly the cutest!

Cherished

That is me.
I am the one cherished.

My beloved built this beautiful bed for me.
We've always had very comfortable beds, but never a headboard and foot board.

I showed my man a picture of roughly what I had in mind, and he undertook
to create it.  I am so thrilled!

Meanwhile this nesting urge made me buy fabrics, hack into them, and begin
sewing like mad to complete this quilt just in time to christen the new bed.

Now when I walk into the room,
when I climb into bed,
when I pull up the down comforter and quilt...
I think only one thing.

I am cherished.

I know I am loved.

Perfect Love

"Herein is love, not that we loved God

but that he loved us,

and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

There is no fear in love

but perfect love casts out fear.....

We love him

because he first loved us."

1 John 4 verses 10, 18, and 19

Baby, Oh Baby.

Baby for not-much-longer...

Why does that little nose keep running?  Aren't we done with this sickness yet?
And why do runny noses come with so much whining. Why?
I want to know.
My momma ears are falling off from the high-pitched discontent strains,
and the cacophony of coughing is wearing on them too.
Do you want to put a pillow over your head as well?

What a rude gesture to brush though your hair, when you're clearly not
feeling your best, but after a week's-worth of one nappy, unchanged 'do,
it's clear that  the time has come to apply a comb.
At least get it tidied up until we brush it again next week.

I'm glad you're eating well Baby-mine.
But why can't you wait just one minute?
I'm hurrying as fast as my morning hands can go - to peel this orange,
to cut up that egg, to wipe your nose once again.

How can the sick discontents be so insatiable?
There is virtually nothing that will pacify.  Except hugs eh?
Except Hugs.  The kind that mean "pick me up"
"sit you down, mom" and "stay here for a while more."
So we do.  While it brings everything else to a dead halt, we sit and hug.
All things considered, it's a prescription I can follow in good conscience.

What is so important I can't stop really?
What's the matter with crying - let's just cry together.
This illness won't last.  The sad sounds will cease. Your nose will stop running.
In one day or ten we'll look backward to this sick day from the land of the well.
And in almost as few days you'll be my "big" girl, no longer the tiniest of the troop.
So let's sit and hug, Baby.

You're still my baby today, and it's a good day for hugging.

Nesting... and trying to shake the bug.

furious frenzy of nest-feathering has overtaken this home! My friend Jana (who is nesting and awaiting the arrival of her little one in our guest accommodations) and I are due three weeks apart. It has been novel to nest without diving into sorting and cleaning projects, but this house is new to us, and so little furnished in all the cracks and crevices, that we can start fresh on any project we want without having to backtrack!

 Jana has been handy with crochet needle, and I have set up sewing operations in the master bathroom (yes, master bathroom) because 1. it's plenty large enough, and 2. I've been letting small children swim and play in the huge tub in order to ease the sicky blues. In camping out with my sewing machine I can make sure no one drowns :-D

I always love a good surprise ending to my pregnancy story, and prefer not to find out gender ahead of time. Amazingly, my Beloved and I agreed on names early on (when does that ever happen?!) and now I have only to create every loving detail in two color schemes.
There's no shortage of gender-neutral out there, but I find I never use it once baby is met and known.
On top of my own baby trousseau, I am trying to sneak in a couple things for another wee nephew and
one or two tiny friends due to arrive in close proximity.  Some rooms in the house resemble the elves
workshop :-)

This is the Girl baby blanket I sewed up recently.  I still have a darling Boy blanket which didn't get used
last time because we had an Aloria.  I wonder which one will be used this time around?

It was my first time using minky fabric and it looks like I could use some practice,
but I'm pretty sure baby won't mind my puckers and goofs.  It is bright, cheerful,
and very much "me", that fabric!  I couldn't help thinking of my mom too, because
I think this is a print she'd give a high approval rating to :-)

In other news, our illness prevails.  Thankfully we have no plans this week and can
lay low.  I read to the kids this morning, but my voice is pretty weak because of the
cough I've had.  Reading isn't ideal.  Poor Aloria-girl woke with a fresh bout of
sickness this morning, and she was the first it hit at the beginning of the week.
With a fever, runny nose and miserable cough, she wanted only to be held all day.
Though everyone has been trouping along with admirable endurance, by this evening
I felt ready to be done being sick.
All of December we were knocked out, and this round has me discouraged.

Thanks Lord for all the bright colors in fabric, the sunshine most days, the snow
flurries today, friends who make dinner, children who are my hands and feet
when mine are taken up with sick babies...
Thanks Lord, for hot baths, and more hot baths :-)  Yes, for all the hot baths a person
could dream of.
Thanks for a husband near-by, and for music to listen to, and a potty-trained little boy,
and plenty of books,  and for fresh fruit because we're really going through the fruit!

I'm loving the freedom and resources to create; loathing all the fevers, flushed faces,
and germs flying to and fro; and in my tired-of-being-sick state, I have an awful lot
to be thankful for.

Sometimes, they call me Mother

Sickness has entered the house for round two.

My heart is thankful to be sick on a weekend, when I can release myself of guilt for the things I'm supposed to be doing (ie. conducting lessons and keeping small people productively entertained).  As it is, I let my hair down and run movies full tilt.  As long as everyone is content and the ones needing to rest are being still, I think it's a good move.  

Achy joints, fevers, barky coughs,

Long hot baths, tea, pillows strewn about the living room...  that's what life is this weekend.

I'm so glad it's not the throw-ups.

Tears come easily (to me) in this third trimester.  Only five weeks to go, and I can hardly wait to meet this wiggling little person!  The most precious thing about the tears this time around, is that I don't find myself attaching them to anything - any event or catastrophe.

I happen to know from 7 times prior experience that this hormonal weepiness rarely has a reason, but usually I try to pin it on something.   There has to be an explanation besides hormones, doesn't there?

The other night though, I had a good cleansing cry after I dropped my Beloved off at the airport.  All I could think was "Thanks Lord, for letting me cry without any reason at all.  Everything is well and blessed, and I  am an 8 months pregnant woman who just needs a good cry. Thank you."

 The other day I was sitting in swim lessons watching my children splash away, and couldn't help myself from doing a bit of people watching.  It's a favorite pass-time of mine, and offers much perspective on life for one willing to take up consideration.

One thing that struck me, was the sweetness of the young mothers in that place.  Most of the mamas were watching one or two children swim while cuddling a toddler or baby.  Most of them had three children at most.  Most of them were probably my age in their 30's.
I know that lots of women wish for more children, but I think it's more likely that status quo dictates the social standard for most people in general.  But without digressing into personal territory, I just want to say how much pleasure I got from watching these mothers... mother.  These unknown ladies blessed me in their tender efforts, and if anyone can appreciate the effort that effort takes - I think I can :-)

I was affected in another way too though - I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for this season being so long for me.  Specifically the baby/toddler/ little person season.  I was almost sick to think that the third child sitting on mommas lap being read to, was the last two-year-old that momma would have the pleasure of holding close in that way.  Oh how thankful I am to have so many chances to do-over some of those moments I missed the first, second, third time around.  I am enjoying my coming-up young adults so very much, but I am glad this toddler cuddling season isn't over.
I couldn't help think that if that momma were me, my youngest could be 6 or 8 years old!  Instead, I am reveling in those ages while looking forward once more to the second my labors are rewarded and I'm handed a warm, wet, bundle to love.
And another chance to try again - to do-over things that want perfecting, and to become a sweeter momma in the process.

These children of mine - they are priceless.  In the midst of juggling daily life I sometimes take them a bit for granted.  They amaze me. They inspire me.  They are becoming such fascinating and vibrant personalities!
And I get to be their mom.

One of mine own calls me Mother.
And unlike the mom who tacks on a middle name as voice and irritation mount, this girl utters the word as an endearment.  Whenever I hear it I feel it's an honor I don't deserve - this title of Mother.
Mom seems to me the sum of all my parts.  My failures included, but Mother... that is the bare truth of who I am.  I am a mother.  I am her mother.  For all time... mother.

The funny thing is that it has caught.  I now have a three-year-old little boy calling me: "Mother... could you get me a drink?"  And a lisping 21 month snippet of sunshine in pigtails who chirps "Mah-er... Mah-er".

So bring on the tears - those ridiculous, annoying, hormonal pregnancy tears.  I am the luckiest woman on earth!  I am the momma to each one of these spectacular individuals.  They give me grace in my failures.  They encourage me when I'm fumbling and bumbling.  They are still cuddle-able.
Even though I am mom, and often deserving of much less than the mountains of love they heap back into my life...

Sometimes... they call me Mother.

Seeing Red... in double

Precious friends are staying with us.
It's like having a couple more darling sisters around the house.

One morning...
We had twins.

One with red curls named Libby
and one with blond pigtails named Lori.

"What do you think of our book collection?"

says one to the other

"I believe it's coming along quite nicely"

a tiny sweet voice replies.

"Perhaps we should select a title and sit down together?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's the fun I've been witnessing around here lately :-)

Friendly Fowl

I didn't mean to succumb to the owl craze that is sweeping
decor, household goods, and clothing...
but when I saw this cookie jar winking down at me from a high shelf
in the thrift store, I knew I had to take him home with me!

Besides... if I didn't, someone else would have.

I hadn't met a winking owl yet, and the mellow blue and white of his
porcelain plumage was gentle on my eyes - unlike some of the brown
and orange versions of this nocturnal fowl I've come across.

Originally I thought I'd snag my five dollar sweetie for the first
person I could think of who collected such things,

and then he landed on my mantle.

I doubt if  Mr. Owl is going to stay perched over the fire place,
but he and I are growing fonder of each other every day.

What can you do about the charms of a critter who winks at you
every time you glance his way?

Maybe a home in the kitchen.
By the coffee and tea?
Maybe on a bedroom shelf...

I think he may be here to stay.
I can't help it!

It Glittered today

It's not Idaho here in the high desert of Colorado.
It's not lush and green.
It's not deep, wet winter snow that you can form into snowmen,snow forts, and snow balls.
It's not lots of big fluffy flakes that pile up feet-worth of stopping power -
stopping one from going anywhere without utilizing a shovel and strong back.
It's not looking miles upward into giant evergreens,
awed by what snow looks like coming down through the trees.
It's not the short dark winter days that feel extra cozy by the fire,
and no matter what fingerprints we leave on windows,
and crayon drawings we tape to the fridge... this doesn't really feel like home.

But there are lots of things that this place is.
It is large, lovely, convenient, easy to warm, and easy to clean.
It is close to every kind of shopping.
It is swimming lessons even in the heart of winter.
It is bright happy sunshine almost every day.
and
it is minutes away from Safeway Rocky Road ice cream.  Need I say more?


And sometimes
when the temperature dips low in this dry climate,
and a bit of precipitation escapes the translucent clouds
at just the time a warm glow of sunlight filters through...

...It Glitters.

At least, that's exactly what it looks like to me - Glitter.

And how gracious our amazing Creator God, to care so much for me
so far away from the beautiful cozy cabin retreat that my whole family has come
to love, that He would give us  a piece of something lovely that we don't get
anywhere else:

A sky-full of sparkling Glitter.

I can't help but marvel.
Even here.