Lately, I have been (slowly) reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. This book is a challenging read for me in many ways but has been wonderful so far. Her style of writing is so beautiful, but for someone who sometimes struggles with focus and comprehension, it just takes a while. Is the content worth it? Yes. The basis of the book is "living fully right where you are". The word that weaves throughout the book is Eucharisteo. "He gave thanks." Thanks with grace and joy. You should read the book.
Any who, it is a lovely and sometimes sobering reminder to live with grace, joy and constant thanksgiving, on the good days and especially on the bad days. Ann started to list 1,000 gifts. Things she could be thankful for. She started seeking out things to be thankful for. Things like "jam piled high on toast", "crackle in fireplace", "bandages and pain relief." She intentionally looked for joy in her days and, as I understand it, still keeps a list well beyond 1,000.
I've contemplated doing the same, but I'm awful for getting excited about something, spending lots of time getting ready for it, doing it for a week or two and then it trails off. I don't want 1,000 gifts to be a project, I think the point is to make it a way of life. Find joy. Be thankful to God, who has blessed us with the house that needs cleaning, the food that needs to be washed from dirty dishes, the children who need...everything. I struggle to find joy in the mundane and thankfulness in the frustration my day brings. Last night I read about Ann witnessing a particularly frustrating interaction between her boys over toast and getting mad, really mad. God reminded me through this book:
"Straw comes in all shapes and the back of a camel can be weak and it's toast and surely there's something behind it that I should seek out but I don't even care. It's my own face that obscures the face of God. How can I help this son of mine see when I can't see? The parent must always self-parent first, self-preach before child-teach, because who can bring peace unless they've held their own peace? Christ incarnated in the parent is the only hope of incarnating Christ in the child - yet how do I admit that people made in the Image can make me blind to God, my own soul contorting, skewing all the faces? Why gouge out your own eyes when crusading for Beauty? Pain drives us to the mad acts."
God, today I pray that I can find joy and grace and beauty in the midst of it all. Help me to see and help my children see. Remind me to self-preach before I child-teach. Help me to hold onto peace and share it with the little ones I'm with.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
O Christmas Tree
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated Papa's birthday with Papa & Oopsy at their house on Tuesday night. On Thursday we spent the first half of the day at Meme's and spent the rest of the day in Elm City with The Williams' family. Good food all around! Since Shawn had Friday off, we went ahead and got our Christmas tree up and decorated. I don't think we've ever gotten a tree that "early", although, according to Target, Christmas started just a hair before Halloween. There is a local church that has a tree lot to benefit missions. We got there early Friday morning and found out they didn't even open the lot until Saturday. But because any good fundraiser never turns down a sale, they let us pick one of the few trees that had been unloaded and unwrapped and loaded it right into our trunk.
Thomas says often, "Mommy, isn't our Christmas tree just beautiful?"
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| Meme came over to help! |
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| Caroline had a front row seat |
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| Daddy helped Thomas put the star on top |
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| Okay, so maybe Thomas helped Daddy |
Thomas says often, "Mommy, isn't our Christmas tree just beautiful?"
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Today's Weather
I know it's been too long (as usual). I have a few posts that are from ages ago that I'm still working on finishing and posting. One of those is Caroline's birth story. Yes, she's here and she's 3 months old. I'll get to it when I get to it, I guess.
Just wanted to share a cute Thomas story from this morning. As we were talking about the weather this morning we started talking about how it stays comfortable in our house. I explained that the vents in the house make cold or hot air that either cools or heats our house, based on what it's like outside. He was listening pretty intently (for a three and a half year old). Then it went like this:
Thomas: "Mama, where does God live?"
Me: "God lives in heaven"
Thomas: "I'm gonna go to heaven and tell God that he needs to put some vents outside"
I love the way a child's mind works. :)
Just wanted to share a cute Thomas story from this morning. As we were talking about the weather this morning we started talking about how it stays comfortable in our house. I explained that the vents in the house make cold or hot air that either cools or heats our house, based on what it's like outside. He was listening pretty intently (for a three and a half year old). Then it went like this:
Thomas: "Mama, where does God live?"
Me: "God lives in heaven"
Thomas: "I'm gonna go to heaven and tell God that he needs to put some vents outside"
I love the way a child's mind works. :)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Happy Birthday Daddy!
Shawn's birthday was October 19 and he may not be big on birthdays but Thomas LOVES birthdays! We decided to make him his favorite supper - meatloaf and mashed potatoes - and his favorite dessert - chocolate eclair cake. If you've not had this dessert before, I'm sorry. Tell me, and maybe I'll make you one. It is that good. It's not one of those fancy desserts. It's just a good ole yummy, sugary, chocolatey, graham crackerey dessert. It's best if you make it and then let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Then take it out and let it lose its cool a bit. Mm mm mm!!
Thomas did a great job of helping me make dessert.
I took Thomas to Target to the dollar section and told him he could pick anything out for Daddy as a birthday present. We had a conversation (and he was reminded a number of times while shopping) that this was a gift for Daddy, not Thomas. He picked out a box of Double Bubble bubble gum and told me that he really thought Daddy would like this. What is the first thing he did when Shawn opened his gift? ...ask for some bubble gum. :)
Mommy splurged a little with the help of my parents and got Shawn tickets to the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show in March. We are both really looking forward to that date night!!
Happy Birthday Daddy! You look great for 28! ;)
Thomas did a great job of helping me make dessert.
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| Stirring the chocolate |
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| Pre-chocolate |
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| Final product |
Mommy splurged a little with the help of my parents and got Shawn tickets to the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show in March. We are both really looking forward to that date night!!
Happy Birthday Daddy! You look great for 28! ;)
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Happy Birthday Caroline
What a day July 20th turned out to be! I want to share Caroline's birth story for those that are interested, but mainly I want to record this day and the experience so that I don't forget it.
Wednesday, July 20th began at 2:30am when I woke up with contractions about 12-14 minutes apart. I laid there for about an hour to make sure this was really it, then I woke Shawn up. He knew it was coming that night, because he had stayed up later than usual and spent time getting his gym bag ready to get up early in the morning and workout. Figures, huh? So, we gave it a while and the contractions kept coming, but fairly far apart and not too painful. We went ahead and called our parents. Papa came over to stay with Thomas in the early morning hours. Meme was in Washington DC on business, so she hit the road to head home. Shawn's parents were headed to Myrtle Beach and eventually made it there, dropped off Joseph and turned right back around to head to Raleigh.
Papa got to our house, so as soon as my contractions started getting stronger and closer together we were ready to go! Then....they stopped. Not completely, but they were not consistent and not too painful. So, Thomas went home with Papa for the morning while Shawn and I walked MANY laps at Crabtree Valley Mall, ate a nice spicy, greasy meal at Bojangles, and took a nap. All the while having contractions very inconsistently. In the afternoon, contractions got more consistent and more painful. Thomas came home to nap and Meme made it to our house to stay with him. By late afternoon, my contractions were still 10-12 minutes apart but were getting VERY painful. At around 4 or so, I called my doctor and explained the situation. (The guideline is that you don't call the doc or head to the hospital until you've had contractions 5 minutes apart for 1-2 hours!) Dr. Gray told us to go ahead to the hospital to see what was going on. When I hung up the phone with Dr. Gray, Caroline decided she wasn't wasting anymore time and my contractions went straight to 5 minutes apart and then to 3 minutes apart in no time!
I had heard a description of what it feels like when you are fully dilated and ready to push (I had a very good epidural with Thomas, so I didn't know what that feeling was like myself). I found out what that felt like standing in our doorway, ready to get in the car and head to the hospital. I did my best not to birth that baby the entire way there. I had these milestones in my head the whole way... if we can just make it off the highway... if we can just make it to the fire station near the hospital... if we can just make it to the hospital driveway... if I can just make it to a room on the labor and delivery wing. Well, we made it, barely. They told us to wait in the waiting room and I refused (kindly, I'm sure) so I decided to pull myself, in the wheelchair, along the railing in the hallway to the nurses station to tell them that I needed a bed NOW! Shawn stopped me and told me (kindly, I'm sure) that "next time you have a contraction, the louder you are, the quicker they'll get you to a room." He was right. They led us around to a room that had just moments ago been cleaned. The floors were still wet from being mopped. In between contractions I got undressed and hopped up on the bed. Eight minutes and about two contractions later, our sweet Caroline was born.
We spent about 18 minutes at Rex before she arrived. Dr. Gray barely made it, but as luck would have it, she and Dr. Alvarez were switching shifts and both happened to be right there. We actually got checked in and admitted a while after Caroline was born. I hadn't planned on a natural birth, but that is what God had planned for us. I can say now that I wouldn't have it any other way, however, next time around, we'll be heading straight for the hospital at the first sign of true labor. We didn't get to spend much time with our L&D nurse, but she was great! As usual, the rest of the staff at Rex was just awesome and we had a great experience.
Caroline did great in the hospital and started nursing well. She had some of the clear gunk in her lungs that would make her gag and spit up a little. We had one little scare at night. I woke up to see her flailing her arms around in her bassinet and obviously having a lot of trouble breathing. I paged the nurse and calmly (too calmly) asked for help. They came in and turned that child upside down and beat that stuff right out of her. What didn't come out then got sucked out with a bulb syringe. That was a bit scary but she did great after that. Big Brother got to come and visit and even got a special "I'm The Big Brother" sticker to wear while he was there. He was and continues to be so gentle and sweet to his baby sister.
She's such a sweet baby and we look forward to watching her grow. We love you Caroline. Welcome to the family!
Wednesday, July 20th began at 2:30am when I woke up with contractions about 12-14 minutes apart. I laid there for about an hour to make sure this was really it, then I woke Shawn up. He knew it was coming that night, because he had stayed up later than usual and spent time getting his gym bag ready to get up early in the morning and workout. Figures, huh? So, we gave it a while and the contractions kept coming, but fairly far apart and not too painful. We went ahead and called our parents. Papa came over to stay with Thomas in the early morning hours. Meme was in Washington DC on business, so she hit the road to head home. Shawn's parents were headed to Myrtle Beach and eventually made it there, dropped off Joseph and turned right back around to head to Raleigh.
Papa got to our house, so as soon as my contractions started getting stronger and closer together we were ready to go! Then....they stopped. Not completely, but they were not consistent and not too painful. So, Thomas went home with Papa for the morning while Shawn and I walked MANY laps at Crabtree Valley Mall, ate a nice spicy, greasy meal at Bojangles, and took a nap. All the while having contractions very inconsistently. In the afternoon, contractions got more consistent and more painful. Thomas came home to nap and Meme made it to our house to stay with him. By late afternoon, my contractions were still 10-12 minutes apart but were getting VERY painful. At around 4 or so, I called my doctor and explained the situation. (The guideline is that you don't call the doc or head to the hospital until you've had contractions 5 minutes apart for 1-2 hours!) Dr. Gray told us to go ahead to the hospital to see what was going on. When I hung up the phone with Dr. Gray, Caroline decided she wasn't wasting anymore time and my contractions went straight to 5 minutes apart and then to 3 minutes apart in no time!
I had heard a description of what it feels like when you are fully dilated and ready to push (I had a very good epidural with Thomas, so I didn't know what that feeling was like myself). I found out what that felt like standing in our doorway, ready to get in the car and head to the hospital. I did my best not to birth that baby the entire way there. I had these milestones in my head the whole way... if we can just make it off the highway... if we can just make it to the fire station near the hospital... if we can just make it to the hospital driveway... if I can just make it to a room on the labor and delivery wing. Well, we made it, barely. They told us to wait in the waiting room and I refused (kindly, I'm sure) so I decided to pull myself, in the wheelchair, along the railing in the hallway to the nurses station to tell them that I needed a bed NOW! Shawn stopped me and told me (kindly, I'm sure) that "next time you have a contraction, the louder you are, the quicker they'll get you to a room." He was right. They led us around to a room that had just moments ago been cleaned. The floors were still wet from being mopped. In between contractions I got undressed and hopped up on the bed. Eight minutes and about two contractions later, our sweet Caroline was born.
We spent about 18 minutes at Rex before she arrived. Dr. Gray barely made it, but as luck would have it, she and Dr. Alvarez were switching shifts and both happened to be right there. We actually got checked in and admitted a while after Caroline was born. I hadn't planned on a natural birth, but that is what God had planned for us. I can say now that I wouldn't have it any other way, however, next time around, we'll be heading straight for the hospital at the first sign of true labor. We didn't get to spend much time with our L&D nurse, but she was great! As usual, the rest of the staff at Rex was just awesome and we had a great experience.
Caroline did great in the hospital and started nursing well. She had some of the clear gunk in her lungs that would make her gag and spit up a little. We had one little scare at night. I woke up to see her flailing her arms around in her bassinet and obviously having a lot of trouble breathing. I paged the nurse and calmly (too calmly) asked for help. They came in and turned that child upside down and beat that stuff right out of her. What didn't come out then got sucked out with a bulb syringe. That was a bit scary but she did great after that. Big Brother got to come and visit and even got a special "I'm The Big Brother" sticker to wear while he was there. He was and continues to be so gentle and sweet to his baby sister.
She's such a sweet baby and we look forward to watching her grow. We love you Caroline. Welcome to the family!
Caroline Scott Williams
July 20, 2011 5:03pm
7 lbs 10 ozs 20 in
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Hurry Up And Wait
That's what we're up to these days. We are busy waiting. Today, I am 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant and we're smack in the middle of that time where she could come anytime, but it could also be another couple of weeks. Thomas was 5 days late, but I swear I feel like I can't possibly carry this baby that long. So, the waiting continues. We're pretty much ready. Her room still has bags of random stuff for which I have not found storage yet. Funny how this time around, I'm not near as worried about being completely "ready" as I was last time. With Thomas I wanted everything to be in it's place, clean, put away, etc. This time....I'm just glad we have the crib up with clean bedding! The rest will just have to come together. She has some clothes to wear and they are clean and in drawers/closet. We're good!
We're all ready for Caroline to make her grand entrance into the world. Thomas is already including her in family activities. He makes sure that we remember to include her in our family of 4. The other day, he said that "Me, Mommy & Caroline are going grocery shopping". Thomas is really a big boy these days and is ready to be Mommy's big helper. He has more and more funny things to say...
"Mommy (sigh)....here's the deal"
"Daddy, you're a big guy who works hard for us"
Wish I could remember more...maybe if I blogged more often.......anyway.
We've also been working on potty training. I was just going to wait until after Caroline was born, but one day he seemed interested (mainly in the M&M's) and I figured, why not? So, off we went. It's going OK. He decided that he needed to wear his Cars rain boots for the occasion the other day. It was too cute not to capture in a picture.
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| 38 weeks 3 days |
"Mommy (sigh)....here's the deal"
"Daddy, you're a big guy who works hard for us"
Wish I could remember more...maybe if I blogged more often.......anyway.
We've also been working on potty training. I was just going to wait until after Caroline was born, but one day he seemed interested (mainly in the M&M's) and I figured, why not? So, off we went. It's going OK. He decided that he needed to wear his Cars rain boots for the occasion the other day. It was too cute not to capture in a picture.
Pee-pee is pretty reliable, but we're currently working on getting poo-poo in the potty. We're done with the M&M's and now we've upped the anty to 2 Double Stuf Oreo's. No success yet, but I'm hopeful. The only problem with the scenario is that means we always have to have a package of Oreo's in the house. We've gone through 3 packages in the past 4 weeks. I've eaten most of those Oreo's. Guess I better enjoy them while I can....
Maybe next time I'll be posting hospital pictures of Sweet Caroline??!! :)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
June Showers Bring July Babies
Well, my computer issues were solved and then my bad computer vibes struck again. Sooooo, we're without a computer again. That means that I use Shawn's work computer most nights just to get caught up on email (ok, ok....and facebook), keep up with the budget, etc. I don't, however, get much time to update the blog, keep up with pictures, etc. So, no pictures this time and it's too late for my brain to try to go back and update on the past couple of months. I'll just stick with the past 24-48 hours, K? K.
We had a busy, but fun, weekend! Thomas spent Friday night and Saturday with Papa & Oopsy so that Shawn and I could go to a marriage conference at our church. It's called The Art of Marriage through FamilyLife Ministries. We really enjoyed spending that time together hearing from some really great speakers via video. After almost 9 years of marriage, this was a great reminder of our commitment to each other and to God, and also made us really think over why we fell in love almost 13 years ago. I would encourage any of you married couples to do things like this when given the chance, or seek them out yourself. FamilyLife also does "Weekend To Remember" marriage retreats at hotels around the country. Maybe we'll get to one of those soon.
Today we went to church, bought Daddy a new golf glove (a replacement Father's Day gift for the wrong glove that we bought originally), and had lunch at Moe's. Our family has a slight addiction to Moe's. I'm okay with that. Anyway, this afternoon, I got to enjoy a baby shower given by Becky, Mom & Whitney at Dad & Becky's house. What a beautiful shower it was!!! Everything was just perfect. I'm feeling incredibly blessed tonight thinking about how special that gathering was. Some of my family from Charlotte was there (even though they've made this trip quite a bit in the past month!), friends from high school and college were there, family friends were there. I felt loved and these special ladies showed me how loved baby Caroline is. It's still a little surreal that all that pink stuff is for us, and boy did she get a lot of cute girly stuff! A huge thank you to the hostesses with the mostesses and everyone who made it. We missed a number of folks who are also so very special to our family.
Well, we are now at 35 weeks and I'm now going to the doctor weekly. That makes it sink in for me that this little girl is on her way soon. Thomas is really getting excited about meeting his sister and I think he can tell it's getting close now that furniture is being moved and all this new pink stuff is taking over our house. :) We'll be getting his big boy furniture this week, which he is also really excited about. As far as Mommy, she is equally excited to meet Caroline, but very uncomfortable. This pregnancy has been very different in many ways. I've been uncomfortable for a while now - that didn't really start until later with Thomas. I haven't gained as much weight this time, which I'm happy about, and doc says Caroline will be "more petite" than Thomas...hmmmmm. I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions since 20 weeks, so much so that I tend to not even notice them sometimes now. We are now trying to tie up some loose ends like packing the hospital bag, coming up with a plan for when I go into labor (mainly for Thomas' care), etc. So, overall we're not totally ready, but we're ready. Does that make sense?? :) Makes perfect sense to me. She is busy tonight as I write this. As I type I can see my belly dancing all over the place. She pushes to my right side and then pushes to the left. Meanwhile, I feel tiny little baby hiccups. I love that part. Despite the tough parts, I love being pregnant and anticipating this sweet little miracle. She'll be here soon. :)
We had a busy, but fun, weekend! Thomas spent Friday night and Saturday with Papa & Oopsy so that Shawn and I could go to a marriage conference at our church. It's called The Art of Marriage through FamilyLife Ministries. We really enjoyed spending that time together hearing from some really great speakers via video. After almost 9 years of marriage, this was a great reminder of our commitment to each other and to God, and also made us really think over why we fell in love almost 13 years ago. I would encourage any of you married couples to do things like this when given the chance, or seek them out yourself. FamilyLife also does "Weekend To Remember" marriage retreats at hotels around the country. Maybe we'll get to one of those soon.
Today we went to church, bought Daddy a new golf glove (a replacement Father's Day gift for the wrong glove that we bought originally), and had lunch at Moe's. Our family has a slight addiction to Moe's. I'm okay with that. Anyway, this afternoon, I got to enjoy a baby shower given by Becky, Mom & Whitney at Dad & Becky's house. What a beautiful shower it was!!! Everything was just perfect. I'm feeling incredibly blessed tonight thinking about how special that gathering was. Some of my family from Charlotte was there (even though they've made this trip quite a bit in the past month!), friends from high school and college were there, family friends were there. I felt loved and these special ladies showed me how loved baby Caroline is. It's still a little surreal that all that pink stuff is for us, and boy did she get a lot of cute girly stuff! A huge thank you to the hostesses with the mostesses and everyone who made it. We missed a number of folks who are also so very special to our family.
Well, we are now at 35 weeks and I'm now going to the doctor weekly. That makes it sink in for me that this little girl is on her way soon. Thomas is really getting excited about meeting his sister and I think he can tell it's getting close now that furniture is being moved and all this new pink stuff is taking over our house. :) We'll be getting his big boy furniture this week, which he is also really excited about. As far as Mommy, she is equally excited to meet Caroline, but very uncomfortable. This pregnancy has been very different in many ways. I've been uncomfortable for a while now - that didn't really start until later with Thomas. I haven't gained as much weight this time, which I'm happy about, and doc says Caroline will be "more petite" than Thomas...hmmmmm. I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions since 20 weeks, so much so that I tend to not even notice them sometimes now. We are now trying to tie up some loose ends like packing the hospital bag, coming up with a plan for when I go into labor (mainly for Thomas' care), etc. So, overall we're not totally ready, but we're ready. Does that make sense?? :) Makes perfect sense to me. She is busy tonight as I write this. As I type I can see my belly dancing all over the place. She pushes to my right side and then pushes to the left. Meanwhile, I feel tiny little baby hiccups. I love that part. Despite the tough parts, I love being pregnant and anticipating this sweet little miracle. She'll be here soon. :)
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