The Mommy Learning Curve (I am confident that this will be a recurring theme)

LESSON: Don’t make assumptions about what your child will be able to figure out and at what point.

My daughter (like most babies) likes to open drawers, then take out and inspect it’s contents. One of her favorite drawers is the one where I keep all my makeup, hairbrushes, etc... It is especially exciting for her since she only gets to “play” in the bathroom when someone else is in the room getting ready. It becomes like a baby Disney World as a result of it’s forbidden nature. Today she discovered the lipsticks. She held them, banged them on the floor and, of course, stuck them in her mouth. “It will be fine,” I thought, “she doesn’t know how to take the top off yet... ” Until she did. “Still okay,” I reasoned, “surely she won’t figure out how to turn the bottom and raise the lipstick to a usable level.” Famous last thoughts. Certainly the thoughts of a rookie mom. Because sure enough, the next moment found the lipstick exposed. Now in the hands of a toddler, this is usually a humorous moment as they try to apply lipstick to their face in the manner they have seen adults do it...but, in the  hands of a one year old? Yep, you guessed it. Ate it like it was a Popsicle. I was too slow. Probably slowed down by my surety that she could not accomplish this task yet. Of course I could not retrieve the chunk of wax out of her mouth, since messing with her mouth invites her indignation. So for now, I shall be on the lookout for the poopy diaper dressed up with Revlon Apricot Fantasy.

They Leave All Kinds of Prints (September Word Celebration)

These are some of the beautiful shoes my daughter will probably never wear.

Her feet are long enough, but have not yet become fat enough to keep them on. 

So every day she sets a new record for how fast she can kick them off. 

By the time her feet are chunky enough to hold them, they will be too small.

So they stay beautiful but serve no purpose and see no life.


But it will not always be so...

Some day, they will protect her, give people an impression of who she is and where she is going...

Will she live in these like her mother? 

  Or will she climb the corporate ladder in these?

Will she step into someone else’s shoes when their time is over?

Or will she wear her own where nobody has yet tread?

Will she lead or be content to follow?

Will she walk among the sick and the sorrowful? 

Will she prefer to skip, run, or walk? 

Will she walk with grace, and compassion?

Whatever shoes she wears, I pray they will leave behind footprints that are following Jesus.

All my little blessings

Let me say that God has answered every prayer request I have had in regard to my daughter, even the ones I did not voice out loud. 

~The pregnancy was smooth. 

~My daughter is beautifully healthy. 

~She came on Memorial weekend when friends and family could easily come visit.
~She came when my husband was at home and could easily get me to the hospital.

~My water broke with my not having had a single contraction, guaranteeing that they would keep me at the hospital. 

~I got the on-call doctor I wanted. 

~I had the best labor/delivery nurse. 

~And, relatively speaking, labor/delivery moved pretty quickly. 

Bearing all this in mind, I have graciously decided to cut God some slack on all the prayers about my school/career that He has not quite answered to my satisfaction. :) I am beginning to think that He may have known best... known how much she would change me... how instantly and intensely my heart would be knit to hers... how much she would heal me... how much I would want nothing more than to be with her...

I had a wonderful time (minus the pain) in the hospital and it truly was one of the best weeks of my life. Here are some of my favorite memories that I have packed away in my mental scrapbook:


~I was having a nice lunch with my friend and didn't think too much of the fact that I was "raining" in my seat the whole time... 'cos you know on TV it always comes on like a thunderstorm.


~When the contractions were the worst, C.(hubby) was whispering his favorite memories of our life together thus far into my ear.


~Ms. P and L. scouring the hospital cupboards like a couple of excited pirates making sure that I went home with a bounty of goodies for the baby. They both did it at the same time, with no cues from each other. Ah, genetics. :)


~The best kind of friends... for staying... with no regard to my puking, the lateness of the hour, the long wait or uncomfortable chairs. (Thanks, B, Ms.P and L!)


~Having my husband tell me what an amazingly strong person I was to go through all of that pain, and how proud he was of me. And for all the ways having a child together has deepened an already strong love.


~After the labor nurse gave me my first IV painkiller, she told me it would feel like drinking three Tequilas. When the drug hit my system, it confirmed for me why I made the right decision by never drinking. 


~In order to comfort me that the baby was coming soon (and faster than they expected) my labor nurse told me that the doctor was putting on her "ball gown."


~Nurse (after the baby came): "Congratulations, you just ran a marathon."
Me: "No. I have actually run a marathon and it was by far easier."


~The Oprah Effect 
After too many years of anxiety about the question of having children, and far too many episodes of Oprah listening to mothers who had formed no attachment to their children, I was amazed at my instant, immediate, intense love for my child.

~The knowledge that everything worth savoring in this life is sweeter, more exquisite with Jesus.

Like sands through the hourglass...

As I stated in my previous post, I am not patient. I am pretty sure that fact about myself was pretty high up on my list due (if you know me) to the obviousness of it's truth. 

My daughter is due Memorial Day. 

I am really not sure if she is aware...

That the weekend is perfect timing for all my friends to be able to visit me in the hospital...

That my first choice doctor is on call over the holiday weekend...

 That I have savored all there is to savor about pregnancy and I am ready for the ride to be over...


That I have already designed her birth announcement, her high school graduation announcement, and her wedding invitations in attempts to pass the time... 

That I just can't wait to meet her...

You see I am a planner and I have it all figured out...

Don't you hate that the most critical part of any plan (the actual implementation) is always in somebody else's hands?

I have become an expert at crafting (what can only be described as magnificent) plans and watching them turn to ash the minute they are handed off to a deciding body. (Could it be God is still trying to teach me patience? :-P )

Oh wait! My husband just called to inform me that he left his cell phone at home...thereby guaranteeing that she will come today.

I don't know whether to kill him or thank him.