A Beautiful Sunset

 

This sunset was so amazing...It just deserved it's own post.

I loved watching it melt into different colors as I sat on my front porch.  And I loved watching my friends all over this area posting pictures of their skies on social media.  It was just a really cool shared experience.

I am grateful that God puts such beauty into the night sky for us...and everywhere else for that matter...to remind us and unite us.  And I'm glad I'm slowing down enough this season to enjoy it!

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Beat the Virus!

 I got my second dose of the Covid vaccine the other week.  There is something to gratifying in knowing that fasting, prayers, God's grace, and the relentless work of scientists brought us this much closer to overcoming this worldwide pandemic.  I am beyond grateful to be a recipient of this great blessing!  I continue to pray for further advancement against this virus! 

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Grateful for His Grace #StartingToday

During the last year, my little children have been my sunshine and the Savior has been like this umbrella, sheltering me from the very worst or at least lightening my load when it felt like the very worst.

I am so grateful for His love and kindness as I've passed through difficult times.  I don't feel put-upon, because I know He has taken-upon Himself all of my worst times and hardest struggles already.  And for that I am most grateful!

 

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FHE Sibling Spotlight

Spotlighting individual siblings for Family Home Evening is something we've done in the past and wanted to get back to.  So this week, we celebrated Autumn, our soon-to-be nine-year old.

When I do this, I like it to be a total surprise.  This time around, it was pretty casual.  I found this "Autumn" garland at the store and picked up her favorite candy.

When FHE began, we sang a song of her choosing, and then I asked each family member to say three things they love around their sister. We went around and around until we had all said at least three things.

She was already beaming before we got done with that exercise, but to top it off, I had a letter from her former teacher that she had never read before, that absolutely sang her praises. I read that letter for the whole family to enjoy.

It was a simple, but enjoyable FHE that had everyone feeling good about each other (thank goodness!)

The next day, I actually received an email from the mother of one of Autumn's school friends.  She told me that her daughter had gone to school with ringlet curls in her hair and that she felt self-conscious about it.  Upon seeing her, apparently Autumn paid her this sincere compliment: "You look like Belle from Beauty & the Beast!"  Autumn's words completely changed how her friend felt about herself and she came home totally satisfied with her hair-do of the day!

Her Mom was so happy that she just had to share that story with me.  I was pleased by Autumn's good act, although not surprised.  However, the thing that happened next did surprise me.  In the same breath (or same email) this Mom-friend offered to babysit for me so that I could go to my remaining weekly pregnancy appointments, which will be such a help to me.

Now, I'm sure that my friend might have been planning to offer her services to me either way, but in that moment, I felt that her kindness to me was somehow a direct result of the kindness that my daughter showed to hers.  And I was suddenly super grateful and feeling blessed by the goodness of my girl.

It's kind of neat when the goodness your children do, comes back to you.  And maybe that's the joy Heavenly Father feels.

If you'd like to see what we did for our first Sibling Appreciation Night, click here.

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Moving On

Exactly five months ago, I walked into this apartment after driving in a car for four hours with my heartbroken kids and a baby who had thrown up twice earlier in the day and a four-year old who threw up five times over the course of the four-hour car ride.  The apartment was so littered with boxes that I couldn't sit down at our small kitchen table to eat.  And little did I realize it at that moment, but I too was getting sick.  In fact, that day, the day before Christmas Eve, we were all coming down with the stomach flu, but all I cared about in that moment was that there were no sheets on any of the beds, and I had no idea where any sheets were.  We were sick, hungry, tired, lonely, sad, and emotionally exhausted.  And it was Christmas.  And I already missed my friends.

So, after about two minutes of assessing my current situation, I turned right around and walked out of the apartment, got back into my car and drove to the store to buy sheets, and some kind of food that sick people can stomach.

I had my daughter with me, so I kicked into "fake it till ya make it mode."  While at the store, feeling very delirious from the events of the day and the previous six months really, I decided to act like this was the funnest night ever.  Scarlett, my 9-year old daughter, watched as I talked happily to every worker at the stores we went to.  It was 10:30pm or so the night before Christmas Eve.  Other people seemed in a pretty good mood and ready to talk too.

At Bed, Bath & Beyond, I announced to the first worker we saw, "We just moved here 10 minutes ago, and we're crammed in a little apartment, and we need sheets, so my sick kids and I can sleep tonight."

This lady was so kind and greeted us with the sweetest and kindest smile ever, and said, "Welcome to Cranberry!!" as she proceeded to show us to some sheets that might work for us.  When we got to the register, the worker there applied a steep discount to our entire order for having recently moved.

Our next stop was Target, where I kept running in to the same lady in the food section.  She said, "Well, I guess I might as well say Hi."  I said, "Hi, we're new in town. We just moved here tonight, and we need friends." This kind lady said, "I'll be your friend!" as she proceeded to "friend me" on Facebook, invited us to the movies with her son the next day, and even met me for pie one night soon after at like 11pm, when I said (on Facebook) that I was missing my friends.

Another woman in our apartment complex, who is a super-trooper in my book, went out of her way to befriend me.  Last week, when I told her that our signing date for our new house got pushed back and we had nothing to eat (because I'd packed our apartment up in anticipation of the move) didn't say a word, but simply sent her daughter over with bags and bags of food for us to make a respectable dinner that evening and beyond.

The last little while here has been especially hard as we have had our closing date on our house pushed back.  So much stress coming at us from many angles.  

I met some friends at a local park, some ladies who will also be some of my new neighbors at the new house. I met one woman for the first time and I was expressing to her how hard and daunting something seemed to me right now.  She looked right at me and said, "The fact that you have five children tells me that YOU CAN DO THIS."  It was as simple as that.  But it was what I needed to hear.  And after our play date, I promptly got into my car and bawled my eyes out! Grateful and overwhelmed at the same time.

Then last week, I was at the grocery store, waiting in line at the check-out, and who did I see, but Jackie, the worker from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, who we always call "our first friend in Cranberry." She remembered us, and asked how we were doing.  I thanked her profusely for just being a kind face and welcoming a stranger that night.  It meant a lot to us.

Five months have passed, and many, many people, women in particular, have showed us such love and kindness.  People in person, people online, old friends sending me messages of love. It has been truly humbling and has taught me a lot.

Perhaps, I have failed in that five months later I still hate this apartment.  Should I have learned to love it?  I don't know.  I certainly tried to like it, and I don't think I've been ungrateful for it.  I just will be so happy when we can close this extremely difficult chapter in our lives.  Maybe in hindsight, and from a distance, I will learn to appreciate it more that I do while in the thick of everything.

If there's anything I've learned most poignantly, it's the power of friendship, of kindness to strangers, of enduring and being willing to admit when things are really hard. I've also realized how easy it is to be generous with our time and our hugs, and especially with our words.  It costs nothing, but tends to mean everything to the receiver.

I guess if I can be a more kind and generous person because of this experience, then it will have been absolutely worth it.

Onward and upward!  We hope to close on our new house tomorrow!

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It's a Work in Progress

It's been nine weeks since we moved.  In some ways it feels like only yesterday we were back home in Lewisburg, in other ways it feels like an eternity.  My children have definitely grown a lot emotionally, they've had to.  And our house is starting to take shape.  

Phew! And that is a very good thing.  Just being able to see a house going up is a huge relief.  There's nothing like jamming seven people in an apartment to put a magnifying glass on your many weaknesses as a family!  Like our house, we're a work in progress.  This is more apparent than ever.

One cool fact about our house is that it was started on my Mom's birthday, and it should be finished (and signed for) on my Dad's birthday.  Kinda cool.

Although January was a special sort of train wreck full of emotions and homesickness, I am strangely proud to say that February was the best February on record if I look back on my nearly 12 years in Pennsylvania. While much of the west had snow and cold temperatures, we had day after day of warm, Spring-like, even sunny, days.  This made some people grumpy (they wanted at least one good snow), it made others anxious (as they waited for the other shoe to drop.)  Me?  It just made me happy and better able to handle my life right now.  My sister is having our family try to run or walk 2017 miles collectively this year, so I walked outside every chance I got.  And it was good for my mental well-being.

So, I don't know what your February was like, but I know that in nothing doth man offend God than in not recognizing his hand in all things, so I'm going to list some of the things that made me happy during the month of February, things that I know God had a hand in:

1.  The trip back to Lewisburg for the Ice Festival kicked things off nicely with hugs from friends and a time-out from the stress of every day reality.

2.  The awesome weather!  Last Friday, my car dashboard said it was 84 degrees.  I don't know if that was accurate, but I'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth either.

3.  I've been able to meet some really nice people here who were also nice enough to actually be my friend.  This has been huge.

4.  As a family, we went to our "first dance" together at our children's elementary/middle school on Valentine's Day, and it was hilariously off-the-hook.  

5.  Because we snagged a good girl to babysit for us from the wealth of babysitters in the ward, my husband and I have gone on more dates together this month than we probably have in the last year.  I'm not proud of that fact, but there you have it.

6.  I started crossing off the days on our family calendar and my personal planner.  It's not something that I normally do.  It's what my daughters do on their calendars, however, in my current state of mood, it gives me great satisfaction to watch the days pass (or to put them in the past!)

7.  I got two callings.  I was excited to receive one, and honestly hoped that the Bishop just misspoke when he said, we have "some callings" to extend to you.  But I accepted both and will do my best.  When I finally was set apart, I liked what was said in my blessing and found it to be helpful.  One calling is TFOT teacher in Relief Society.  The other is being a member of the "meetings committee" to help plan monthly RS activities.  It's interesting to be in a ward that does so much.

8.  I took all of my kids to the doctor for check-ups, all my kids to the dentist, and Scarlett got braces, which look cute on her.  I even took myself to the doctor for a check-up.  That was a lot of work, but I like all of the physicians and dentists we've signed on with, so that is a plus.

9.  My husband and I gave talks in Sacrament meeting on "Standing as a Witness." I invited my new friend to come listen to my talk, and she actually came. Both accepting the invitation and actually coming are things to celebrate.  And she didn't go running from the building after listening to my talk on sharing the gospel, so that's a good thing!  Haha.

10.  I had a really good day last week, where, for a moment, I realized that my apartment felt almost home-like.  Honor had had a friend over to play earlier in the day.  Val was napping.  Honor and I were able to sit restfully on the couch together and were starting to make cookies.  A warm breeze was blowing through the open patio door.  And I felt calm and comfortable, and it felt peaceful and good.  And I realized it felt like I'd feel if I were at home and I hadn't felt that way in a long, long time.  And it felt good, even if for a moment.

So these are all of the good things.  We all still cry when we're reminded of home. Or if we don't cry, we just get quiet and let the moment pass. It feels like one of those really sad break-ups, where just the mention of our dear home's name or the names of our friends tends to bring that lump right back in our throats, so I tend to train my thoughts on the present, but all of that aside, I can say we're embracing our new life, and just trying hard to "fall in love" again with a new place, while still holding a candle for the old.  I even signed my kids up for soccer for the very first time, which will surely make my friends who know me laugh as I was never one to buy in to that whole scene!  Anyway, we can easily see the blessings.  We can see the blue skies and many other important blessings not mentioned here.  We know that we are being watched over.  And we are doing everything we know how to settle in to this new life.  So, how was your February?

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To think in such a place...

It's been a little quiet around here, but not quiet at all in my real life.  Just to catch you up, we had a baby in April (a sweet, sweet boy named Val!) then we pretty promptly found ourselves without a job, we went on a super amazing family road trip that took us all the way to California and back with lots of stops at points in between (this was in the works before the job loss!)  Then we waited a lot and worked a lot to find a job.  And I was sad a lot about the thought of having to move for a potential job and leave this little town I've come to love, and then my husband was blessed to find a great job, which is taking us to the much bigger city of Pittsburgh (which is 1. still in Pennsylvania 2. lots closer to my family, and 3. going to be an amazing place to live!)

So, just to back up, if you've been around my blog here for a while, you might have noticed that I love living here in rural, central Pennsylvania.  I will say, it has not been without it's ups and downs.  But at some point over the last decade of living here, I made a decision...not just to tolerate this smalltown life, but to love it.  Not just to give a passing glance at my neighbors, but to get to know, love, and serve them. Not just to complain about the way things were going down at school and the community, but to make positive change.  

I have mentioned almost none of those life-changing episodes here on my blog, mainly because some of it is sensitive in nature, but these are the experiences that have shaped who I have become over the last 10 years. And the friendships.  Oh, the wonderful friendships I've experienced with Moms of all walks.  Words can't express how much those friendships have nurtured and taught me.

So yes, I have given my heart and soul to my life here, to the neighborhoods and communities I've been a part of.  Where too many transplants come here and complain (a lot) about the lack of stores, lack of "cultural experiences", the very small stakes and wards, the lack of...fill in the blank, I decided not to do that.  And because I decided to deliberately fall in love with this place and to see its beauty, it hurts all the harder to leave. 

But even the hurt feels good and right to me.  If I wasn't sad to leave, then I'd wonder if I'd managed to do what I came here to do.  

I'm sure Heavenly Father, knowing my heart, made sure to give me PLENTY of time to start to let go of my life here, and to say my good-byes.  He knew I'd need time to accept this change.  As soon as the job went away, I knew we would most likely move.  So starting in August, I focused on saying good-bye.  I focused on not just good-bye but on taking my friends aside one by one and telling them just how much I loved them, what it was that they did for me, what I see in and respect about them.  And just giving nice long, real hugs.

In addition to good friends, I found myself saying good-bye to helpers who care for our family: our dental hygenist, my favorite Walmart cashier, my lady at the Post Office, and on and on all who I know by name.

(Knowing most people by name, I'm going to miss that.  Seeing the same people day in and day out, I'm going to miss that too.)

The more I thanked people and expressed my love for people, the more aware of my blessings I became.  Every time I think maybe I've come to the end of my list of friends to say good-bye to, there seem to be more.  This is both humbling and soul-filling.

So, here I am at the end of 10 messy years, really my first decade of Motherhood, looking back with deep, deep, deep gratitude.  

At the school where I attended college there was a saying, "To think in such a place, I led such a life."  Those words come to mind now when I think about life in Lewisburg.

Do other people feel this way about the places they live?  They must. I can't be the only romantic out there.

The saving grace about moving for me is knowing that the Lord is leading us, He is blessing us. He has NEVER let us down before.  And I know that He is leading us to the next phase of our lives, to a place where we can learn and grow and continue to become the people he wants us to become.

I am reading a book that I randomly heard about. It's called, "This is Where You Belong: the Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live." I don't anticipate not being able to love where we will be living next. In fact, I probably could have written this book, however I'm open to suggestions, and my heart is open and ready for new friendships, new challenges, new opportunities to stand as a witness.

I'll admit, I've only read part of the very first chapter, but the quote on the first page is one I'm pondering in my mind, and maybe you'll think long and hard about it as well. It goes like this, "A place belongs forever to whoever claimes it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image." - Joan Didion.

I claim Lewisburg, Pennsylvania from June 2007 to December 2016, and I hope when the earth is rolled up like a scroll, it will claim me too.

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Thanksgiving Hostess Gift

Like many of you, we're focusing on showing gratitude for others as a family this month.

We talked a little bit about who we should show gratitude to and what we should show gratitude for...and practiced a few ways one can show gratitude.  

We wrote thank you notes, took cookies to a few friends who have helped us recently, and the kids and I made hostess gifts to bring to family in a few weeks.  

We saw this hostess gift idea at The Idea Room.  It's very simple to create.  I bought the wooden spoons at Walmart, the kitchen towel at Target, and I already had the other tools needed.

Using metal letter stamps, we stamped words like "blessed" and "thankful" and her last name on the handles of our wooden utensils.  Then we used a skinny permanent marker to make the letters stand out a little more.

I used a piece of masking tape to try to make my lines straight.  It helped, but I'm not great at this kind of stuff, so it's not perfect!  But it's really a foolproof craft for the most part and quick to create.  I'm hoping my sister will enjoy them!  I know she's working hard to facilitate a nice Thanksgiving for all of us, and I want her to know how much I appreciate and love her!

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Happy November!

We had an awesome Halloween and October full of fun and spooky activities, but now it's November, and that is quickly becoming my favorite time of year.  I've been super busy volunteering at school this year, and I'm in charge of a service project that is finally coming to fruition.  So I'm pretty excited about that.  (In fact, I need to shower and get to school real quick to help out!)

This weekend, once the tricks or treats were over, we worked together as a family to winterize our yard.  We were so proud of the kids for working together and having such good attitudes doing what we asked of them.

I snapped this picture of Steve reviewing the triumphs and lessons learned of our day working together.  It was mostly triumphs.  I love how the kids are fixed on Steve's every word as he doles out fatherly praise on them each individually.

Scarlett saved this leaf for me which she is sure was made by her personal leprechaun.  We love all types of magic fun around here!

Guy continues to be an amazing big brother and a super-duper family historian.  He participated in someone's Eagle Scout project on Saturday, taking pictures of tombstones in a local cemetery, then digitizing the information and uploading to a family history site. He was jazzed about it and bore his testimony in church that he felt the Holy Ghost very strongly during the project.

I have much to thank God for in my life, and I bet you do to.  I love a season that is all about saying thanks.  I am also grateful that my gratitude calendar (that I threw together years ago) is holding up!  Each day, we write down one thing we are grateful for on a slip of paper and place it in the pocket.  (I fill the pockets with stickers for the kids to take once they put a slip of paper in.)  After we eat Thanksgiving dinner, we open the notes and read them aloud.

Have a great Monday!

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The Goblet of Gratitude vs. the Bottle of Bitterness

Oh man!  Today's General Conference Lesson was a doozy.  Sometimes the kids are in a mood.  Sometimes my lessons are well-planned-out, and sometimes hastily made lesson plans go haywire and everything erupts into a real sideshow of silliness.  

That was the case today, as we explored President Uchtdorf's talk "Grateful in Any Circumstances."

We all know the standout line where President Uchtdorf says, "We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is.  How much of our life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?"

In teaching my children today, I decided instead to focus on another line of imagery presented by President Uchtdorf when he said, "It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God.  But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding."

I thought that tasting the bitter and the sweet would help drive President Uchtdorf's point home for my children.  So at the beginning of our lesson, I set out a cup full of lemon juice and a cup full of apple juice and invited them to partake...Everyone had a sip of apple juice first and enjoyed it very much.

Then came the lemon juice.

  Here's Scarlett giving it a go; Her face says it all.

Guy gave it a whirl.  Even Honor had to take a turn tasting both.

Then I explained to them that President Uchtdorf taught that, "There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.  We can be grateful!"

We can put down the "bottle of bitterness" and drink from the "goblet of gratitude" instead.  (Quoted above.)

My kids, not knowing what a goblet was, thought I said GOBLIN, and before I knew it, they had worked themselves up into a frenzy of laughter over the whole thing.  We went from Goblin of Gratitude to Goblin of ATTITUDE.  We were all over the place and there was absolutely no reigning it back in.

They're roaring.  Honor is doing this with her plastic cups:  Her "cups of cuteness."

All that was left to do was go along with all the silliness.

All day long, anytime anyone sported a 'tude, someone would say, "Uh-oh, here comes the Goblin of Attitude!"  

Like when I drove a couple of miles out of my way to check out a yard sale and it turned out to be a junky waste of time, I grumbled under my breath, "Well, that was a waste!"  Then, I stopped myself and said, well, it was at least a pretty drive.  

After all, President Uchtdorf said, "We can CHOOSE to be grateful, no matter what!"

It's a choice we all make, many times, every day.  Choose carefully!  The Goblet of Gratitude is much more pleasant than the Goblin of Attitude OR the Bottle of Bitterness!!!

To read up on all of our adventures in General Conference learning, please visit our General Conference Lessons page!

Here are our General Conference Review Lessons for the April 2014 Conference (so far):

Following Up - Elder Ballard
Spiritual Whirlwinds - Elder Andersen
Roots and Branches - Elder Cook
I Have Given You an Example - Elder Scott

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To Touch Heaven

We spent the day together for Honor's Birthday and had a brilliant time: played at an indoor play place, hit Wegman's, ate yummy food and had a family birthday party.

Got lots of photos which promptly got erased while trying to download them to my computer.  So today, I'm moving on, but trying to be Thankful for the day and not focus on losing my photos.

That's the thing about gratitude, right?  It's easy to be grateful when everything goes just so.  But when things start to go awry...well all bets are off! ;)

Let's try to remember President Monson's advice, "To live with gratitude EVER in our hearts is to touch heaven."

Reaching out for heaven today.

You can win this instant downloadable print from Jalipeno Digital Art by leaving a comment on this post sharing your favorite HOLIDAY RECIPE, side-dish, treat, etc.

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Gift of a Grateful Heart

I went to school early this morning to attend parent/teacher conference for my children.  I laughed, I cried (happy tears), and as I was leaving I noticed this bulletin board inviting students to write what they are thankful for.  I just couldn't resist adding a comment of my own.  

Sundy mentioned in the comments on Monday's post that their family hangs a poster by the front door, and every time they leave, they stop to record something that they are thankful for, even inviting visitors to get in on the act.  I think that is a pretty neat idea, and I was happy to see it implemented at my kids' school.

Anyway, on Monday evening, we had nothing planned for FHE, so I cracked open the November Friend which had just arrived and started reading the first article to them called "A Grateful Heart".  

In it President Henry B. Eyring teaches us that "We must ask in prayer that God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will help us see our blessings clearly.  He can help us be grateful for blessings we take for granted."

He continues, "Giving thanks in prayer can allow us to see the magnitude of these blessings and all of our other blessings and so receive the gift of a more grateful heart."

This gift of a more grateful heart is definitely one that I would like my family and I to receive during this season of thanks.  So, we knelt down together as a family and each offered aloud a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help us have a grateful heart.  Then we thanked God for as many blessings as we could think of and tried not to ask for anything for ourselves.

This was a very simple FHE lessons, but a powerful one.  Can you imagine what the world would be like if all families knelt down together to offer thanks to God...each person praying in turn together...even just once?  It certainly has made a difference for us, and my children all said that they felt the spirit as we prayed together.

I am thankful for the words of the prophets brought straight to our door through The Friend magazine!

Now I said there would be a giveaway today, and here it is!  I stumbled on this Thanksgiving-themed print on Etsy from IAdoreDecor...and I did indeed adore it.  And the shop-owner has been kind enough to offer this print as a giveaway for you today. 

I love this idea of "entering His gates" with Thanksgiving and praise and blessing His name.  Being "in his gates" sounds like a protected and calm place to reside.  In his recent conference address, Elder Bednar taught that "A grateful person is rich in contentment.  An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontent."  

I don't know about you guys, but I want to enter His gates dripping with the "richness" of being grateful for all I have received and not live my life in the poverty of what I think I lack.

It's a fairly easy change that can alter the course of our day...and ultimately our lives.

Anyway, if you'd like to win the print above by IAdoreDecor, just leave a comment on this post telling me something you're thankful for today.  And be sure to check out her other cute prints.

We've already said family and The Book of Mormon on a previous post, so let's stretch ourselves and try to think of something that we might sometimes forget to be thankful for...and leave it in the comment.  It can be silly or serious...big or small...subtle or obvious blessings.

I will announce the winner tomorrow!

PS - Looking for more Thanksgiving ideas?  Check out these posts:

The Best Thanksgiving Books for Children

Thanksgiving Songs to Sing with Kids

Free Thanksgiving Activities (including an FHE on Gratitude)

A Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar

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Honor's Homecoming

Let me introduce you to the newest member of our eternal family:

The lovely, the beautiful, the peaceful, the cheerful

Honor Ivy Christensen
Born: November 7th, 2012 at 6:24pm
10 lbs. 5 oz.
22 inches

There is so much that I'd like to tell you about what this means to me, but I don't think words can express the gratitude that I feel to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to bring this little piece of heaven into our lives.  In all respects, it has been a true honor!

The birth was amazing.  We were blessed and watched over in every way.

She came very quickly, and we were a little surprised by her size, but more surprised when the nurse said that her length was just 20 inches...You see, all my kids were 22 inches at birth...so yesterday I remeasured her, and she's much closer to 22 than 20...so there's a little revisionist history at play here!  She's a 22 in my book! :)

For being 10 lbs, she was actually my easiest and quickest delivery.  Three and a half hours of labor and 3 (or so) minutes of pushing, and she was here, in our arms...ours forever!  What a treasure!

I was also blessed to be surrounded by a few trusted people who also respected the sacredness of the moment!  My husband, who did a great job of helping me through the harder contractions.  My friend Sarah who is a trained doula who supported me emotionally and did a great job communicating my needs to the medical staff.  My midwife Bonnie, who mostly stayed out of the way, but who also moved quickly to release the tension of the cord which was wrapped around Honor's neck as she was coming out.  The very, very green medical student JT who was just in awe of the whole process--it being his first birth, who I'm sure never imagined a woman in labor would have so much to joke around about, and who also caught the baby.  Cindy, my labor and delivery nurse, who talked and laughed exactly like my mom's best friend, and whose laid back demeanor also allowed me to feel at ease, and just focus on the task at hand.  

(Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention Dr. Stankiewicz, who is also a member of our ward, who saw me in the office that day and ruled that I was too far dilated to keep walking around town, so he sent us to the hospital...I was dilated to an 8 by the time we arrived!)

Now, we're getting long here, but I'll share two more sweet moments. 

Honor was so quiet for the first few minutes, probably getting over the shock of the quick delivery, as was I.  Then as I held her in my arms, she let out a cry, "Mmmmmma!"  I'll take it!  Her first word was "Ma!" :) And she did that again two more times that night...Ma! Ma!  Love it!

After a regular stay in the hospital, it was time to go home on Friday.  I dressed Honor in a "going home" outfit.  And I told her, "We get to go home now!"  Her face broke out into the biggest smile...her first smile actually.  And we got it on camera (It's the picture at the top of this post!)

Honor knows what it means to be Home, and she was as happy to return to that peaceful, familiar place as we are to have her here with us.

 

  Thanks to everyone for your love, support, and emails asking about our baby girl!  

All is well.

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The American Dream is Alive and Well

Here's the news, folks:

I did NOT have a baby last night.

(Despite 10 hours of contractions and a hospital stay...)

There will be no NY marathon this weekend.

And there's still no power or gasoline to be had in Brooklyn, where taxis have been lined up at gas stations for days and many have lost their homes and all of their earthly possessions.

HOWEVER: 

My dear friend Cherry still got to take her oath of citizenship in NYC yesterday!! 

They couldn't print out her certificate, but she IS A US CITIZEN!  

And I couldn't think of anyone who deserves it more...or who would appreciate it more.

Despite hardships...despite a LOT of hard work, she is living the American dream...

It's still alive, people!  

We need to cherish it and all of the many blessings that are ours only by of the grace of God.

I am so proud of you Cherry!

(What are you guys thankful for today...in spite of it all?)

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