Yes…it took my tiny new daughter to help me relearn what is important. Right now, the most important thing to do is slow down and get her off to a good start. In the midst of all of the distractions, I must allow myself to focus mainly on her and me. She needs my breastmilk supply to be adequate and I need to slow down to accomplish this.
That means no worrying about nonessential things like the latest and best wrinkle creams out there. Time enough for that later.
…the arrival of:
Rachel arrived on July 7, 2010 at 9:14 p.m. weighing 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long.
It was a long induction…36 hours to be exact…and it was filled with ups and downs…but God is faithful and always provides when we need it.
My worries about things like anti wrinkle cream are over for now…now I am thinking more along the lines of baby poop, sleeping and feedings.
She’s a sweet little princess and we are loving her.
Unbelievably, our big day draws ever more near and I find myself not ready! I have tons of little details and things I want to get done. Unfortunately, my blood pressure is not cooperating with me getting much done and I am forced to sit on my hands and delegate. One of the benefits of a large family, I suppose.
One thing I don’t have to worry about is birth announcements. I’ve decided to make my own this time and I’m pretty happy with what I’ve come up with. It’s pink and girlie and just about perfect. Just waiting on her arrival to fill in some of those pertinent details now.
I am really looking forward to this weekend. My daughter and her family are leaving tomorrow to head up here for a visit. We are rounding out the weekend’s festivities with a baby shower planned for Memorial Day. After that, my daughter and clan will hopefully be able to stick around for a few more days before they have to hit the road back down to Kansas. The last time there were here they ended up in an accident on the Interstate in Iowa that stranded them for days and days. Thankful for roadside assistance, but that was torture for them being stuck in a motel room with two little kids. Anyway, hoping this trip’s travel goes much more smoothly!
As the mother of four sons, I have had my fill of baseball over the years. My three oldest boys are all confirmed baseball players and fans alike. My youngest boy is well on his way in his brothers’ footsteps. No one has expressed any desire for personalized baseball bats yet, thankfully.
But really, when you think about it…I’d rather my boys focus on baseball than some of the other distractions available for mindless pursuit out there. With baseball, they are striving for excellence while working as a team. Doesn’t get any better than that.
Since my oldest son hit his teen years, he has developed an interest in coins. Not gold coins, but rather silver coins are his thing. For years, collected, traded, sold, purchased and dabbled in coins. He spent time on coin collecting forums and poured over books and magazines learning everything he could about his passion. Then…life took over. He met a girl…graduated from high school, started college, got married…and somewhere in there coins were lost in the shuffle.
Now, one of my younger sons has taken up the coin-collecting passion over the last month. It’s been interesting to watch oldest son’s reaction to younger brother’s coin interest. I’m happy to say it has resparked his coin interest as well.
Never lose your passion!
Well…despite my continued goal of simple abundance…it seems we are being blessed with anything but simple abundance. We found out a couple of months ago that we are expecting another baby. This baby is definitely a surprise…but we are now embracing and happily anticipating the arrival of a new blessing.
Maybe this is an answer to my silly thoughts about vain things like age spot cream…this will make me continue to feel young…right? Or…maybe it will sap that last bit of energy out of me…I’m not sure yet…
Horse lovers out there? My oldest daughter went through a pretty big horse phase in her early adolescent years that was strong while it lasted but then she went on to other things eventually. I remember heaving a huge sigh of relief when the horse phase passed because…let’s face it…horses and just about everything connected with them are expensive! Not only the horse and its care and upkeep…but then there are the necessary extras such as equestrian apparel and all those fun things also. Yes…I really don’t know how she even feels about horses now because she is up to her eyeballs in babies right now…but horses were the biggest rage for a while there.
Recently, a US survey found that women are becoming more unhappy and that they want to spend less time at work and more time at home with their children. These are young women who remember what it was like with a frazzled mother trying to do it all…and they don’t want to make the same juggling mistakes as their own mothers did.
I know…we all have pressing concerns like who is going to carry the family’s North Carolina health insurance policy and I will not minimize or discount these concerns.
I will maintain, however, that women who feel a pull to be home should find a way to make it happen. There is nothing gained in the long run by living a life of dissatisfaction and yearning when there may be creative ways to stay home.
Simply…where there is a will there is a way. Talk to your husband and try to make it happen.
We are approaching our second-old child’s wedding some time over the next few months. Instead of the Cinderella affair we had when our oldest daughter got married four years ago, our son and his fiance are choosing to go a simple and informal route with only immediate family and a minister at home. I look forward to celebrating with them as they want and I can’t help but be pretty thankful that we get to skip all of the hoopla like finding the perfect wedding invitations and flowers this time. Although it makes for a beautiful day, the real meaning of the day somehow becomes lost and convoluted.
