Thankful Thursday: the lineup
Did you ever stop to notice something that you see every single day?
This week it has been these guys:
I don’t know if it is because the whale is wearing a crab for a hat or because they represent many a night of giggles with Hannah.
Either way, today I am thankful for the bathtub parade.
party central
We are smack dab in the middle of celebration time over here hence the quiet on the blog. Free time has been spent running errands and doing things I never do. Like mopping the floors and doing yardwork. And doing things that I love to do and don’t do often enough, like crafting and decorating.
First party on the calendar: Katie’s graduation extravaganza this weekend complete with yard games. The following weekend: Hannah’s first birthday bash! In between the two fall a date night to a scholarship dinner, a quick trip to Ann Arbor for a day, signing final sublease paperwork and opening up the porch for the spring.
Some weeks I am bored. This isn’t one of them. Also, Hannah took her first step on Monday and we are wondering when that will turn into a second and a third and a full out run. Here’s to celebrating in big and small ways. More to come.
Read MoreDear Hannah, my little miss independent
Dear Hannah,
I won’t be able to call you my baby forever and I am more aware every day of how old you seem. It’s like you sleep so hard that you literally wake up taller and more grown up (read: independent) every single morning.
I packed up your pink and gray elephant pjs last night; evidence that my theory is true.
Yet, while I am a little sad to move forward, I’m also excited. How could I not be when getting older means things like this:
I feel a bit like we are frozen in time at the mark of your 11th month as part of our family. On the tails of you seeming like a baby and on the brink of many adventures this summer. I imagine that by the time we return from Ann Arbor you will be a walking and talking machine.
This month has been more challenging for me, trying to figure out how to be a mama to a baby who has her own agenda, her own desires and one that is on the move. At the same time, I love where you are and I can’t wait for your grown up self to arrive to the party. You are a joy Hannah June; a social, curious, determined, silly and happy little bug. I feel lucky every day to have a daughter as special as you.
Trying my hardest to live one day at a time and laugh at your independence. Whenever you try new things you look around for me, to make sure I see you and to make sure that you are ok. I’m stuck between the tension of wanting you to always need me and wanting to raise you in such a way that gives you confidence and freedom to go where you are called. I think this is the pull your Dad and I will always feel as we long to raise you in a way that allows you that space.
Getting glimpses into your personality this young only reminds me of the times that, in that tension, my parents allowed me to take risks, see the world & travel to different countries at an age far younger than they felt comfortable with. Whether you go to India, walk trails in the desert, or choose to camp out in your own backyard, please just promise to write.
all my love and joy,
Mom
Read MoreThankful Thursday: the Murphy’s law edition
This week has had moments that have felt a bit like Murphy’s Law. Everything from a power outage at a crucial time to little things that could happen, did happen. However, there was one thing that happened wrong that turned out to be a pretty good thing. I will let you guess which one it is from the following:
If there is a large glass of water within three feet of your computer, you will knock it over (Tuesday afternoon).
If you aren’t going anywhere, your hair will inevitably look wonderful (Wednesday night).
If you want your baby to take a nap, she will inevitably fall asleep in the car on the way home in the pouring rain (today).
But my favorite this week:
If you order flowers for a friend in advance, you will get an email the night before delivery with a confirmation that the flowers are coming to your address. Yup, that’s right. I planned ahead and ordered what I hoped would be a beautiful bouqet of tulips to be sent on April 17th. Well, they arrived and were packed perfectly and just what I imagined. See:
The thankful part of all of this is that in my realizing my error, I called the company I ordered them from and explained my situation. They happily sent a whole new bouquet to the original desired address for free, even though one had already come to me. So, without meaning to, I sent myself flowers in a week that I really needed them. I outsmarted Murphy’s law, just this one time and I have tulips to show for it.
Read MoreMonday musings
Here I sit, with the world’s largest scone and my apple juice, just like I used to order in the early days of coffee shops when I worked in Holland & lived at frequented JP’s. I’m in Grand Rapids though and not working outside of my four walls but somehow coming to coffee shops alone always makes me feel like myself.
My mind is running like a freight train this morning. Thoughts of today and taking my dear friend Katie to her unexpected surgery on a broken bone in her wrist. Kind of nervous and realizing that my mom emotions are on high for this one. I also met my dear friend Allison’s second baby boy on Friday and I am again convinced that new life is one of the most beautiful things in the world. 
Preparing my mind and my heart for another big May. This is a mainstay, something that keeps pumping through my head when I come to this point every year. In 2010 we spent much of May in Israel, which if you are new around here, you can read my series of reflections on the old blog. In 2011 our May is a bit obvious. We had a baby.
Now comes 2012, a month that I knew would be full of transition due to the fact that we are moving to Ann Arbor for Ryan’s internship the first of June, something that I still haven’t written much about. Here is the short story: we thought we might go to San Francisco for the summer all fall. A few weeks before Christmas we met a pastor from Grace Ann Arbor, at an event in Detroit, go figure. The weekend before Christmas we stayed at a Red Roof Inn and spent some major time exploring the city. Two weekends later, Ryan & I went back without Hannah to do more of the same. Conversations happened, it felt a little bit like dating. Are we interested? Are they interested? Both parties wanted to move forward and in a very short and condensed version, we are headed to the other side of the state for the summer.
All of that said, we like to take advantage of opportunities over here and I am in the midst of a decision about May that is causing me to give myself a whole lot of “be brave” talks like the one I gave Hannah a few months ago. Ryan has the opportunity to travel to Turkey, something we have always wanted for him. It is almost fully covered by a scholarship and it is with our friend Brad, who we had the joy of traveling to Israel with. Bottom line, Brad is an awesome teacher and friend and there is no one else I would rather have Ryan go with.
But in the other corner are my wife emotions and family emotions. How will I do this whole parent thing by myself for 12 days? How can we make Hannah’s first birthday the dream celebration I hope it to be with Ryan gone on her birthday?
At the end of the day, Ryan has all of these emotions as well but I am realizing that 1) it is ok to have mixed emotions and make decisions that seem hard 2) we can still celebrate our hearts out all month, making our girl’s birthday month a proclamation of God’s goodness in our lives. It might just mean parties on different dates and creating plans that are different than I thought. It will be ok. In fact, I am choosing to believe it will be good.
I will end with this quote from a book I am devouring right now. I got it Saturday and I am almost done with it, convinced that the words are giving me perspective in this time.
Introducing Bloom by Kelle Hampton:
(visit her blog here)
I’m underlining like crazy, finding solace in some of her words and this is one section that is sticking with me right now.
“I wouldn’t say my glass is always half full. There are days when it’s cracked and leacking, days when it’s chipped and even shattered. But then I get the Krazy Glue out and fix it, and suddenly it’s half full again. Even though it it’s patched up in places, I’ve made it my own with the beveled edges and beautiful etchings that perspective brings.”
With that, happy Monday and cheers to a glass half full.
Read MoreTopics…
