bekahcubed

Categories Homemaking

Thanks a lot, Red Cross

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The American Red Cross is a wonderful, helpful organization.

And it drives me nuts.

I donated blood with them once in college – and they’ve been calling my cell phone ever since, asking for more donations.

I’ve told them a couple times that, not long after my last donation, I was told by a doctor that I had hypovolemia (low blood volume) and that this makes blood donation unwise. Would they please note this on my file and stop calling? The assure me that they will – and call again next month. Anymore, I just ignore the calls when I see their number on my phone.

But recently they did one more thing to raise my ire.

They gave my husband a gift.

Daniel donates blood regularly through the Red Cross donation center at his workplace, and when he got to a certain number of units, they thanked him with a gift of a red potholder and oven mitt.

So, a couple days ago, I’d just finished reseasoning my cast iron skillet on the stove and I set it on top of a small stack of potholders on the counter.

I peeled the parsnips and cut up the squash and ham for a Farmer Boy-inspired meal, and I set the skillet back on the burner to fry the ham.

A couple minutes later, I turned aside from the sink to see red smoke puffing out around the bottom of my cast-iron skillet.

You see, unbeknownst to me, the synthetic fabric of the Red Cross potholder on the top of the stack had melted to the bottom of my skillet – and when I’d placed the skillet on top of the burner I’d placed the potholder there too.

Thankfully, the batting was flame resistant and I didn’t have a fire on my hands, just a mess of melted plastic and an acrid smoke filling my kitchen.

Thanks a lot Red Cross :-)

Categories Parenting

Learning to sit still

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To look at my blog, you’d think I go from bedrest to vacations and back…

…but I know you understand how life with a newborn can be, even if I don’t blog the nasty little details (We cloth diaper. ‘Nuff said.)

To tell the truth, I didn’t realize having a newborn would be this difficult.

I knew there wouldn’t be much sleep, that the baby would cry, that there’d be nasty messes to clean up. That part I expected – and I think I’ve coped with it relatively well.

The part I didn’t plan on was how hard it’d be to get anything done.

I expected to be able to at least keep up with the house, maybe start blogging regularly again, do a few craft projects here and there. But my time is fractured, breastfeeding takes more time than I anticipated and there are times Tirzah Mae will not be content anywhere except on me (and not in a sling, either.)

There was a week (okay, maybe a month) there where I cried every evening around 6, frustrated at how little I’d gotten done. Then I started keeping a list. Every day I keep a running tally of what I’ve done – diapers changed, breastfeeding sessions completed, laundry washed and put away, meals made, chapters read. It and my husband’s encouragement (I think he thinks I get even more done than I actually do, but don’t tell him – it’s kinda nice that he thinks I’m superwoman) has mostly alleviated the six pm crying jag.

But now there’s the one o’clock blues.

I’ve learned to not be on too strict a schedule in the mornings, to let it be okay if I’m just emerging from my bath around eleven. I’ve mostly come to a peace about that – sneaking in productivity here and there. But, inevitably, I will sit down with lunch and start thinking through what I’ve still got to accomplish with the day (most notably, dinner) – and then the one o’clock blues will hit.

Tirzah Mae is absolutely unpredictable in most respects – she has no predictable sleep or wake cycles, feeding schedule, or even preferred activities. One moment she’ll love a certain activity and calm down right away, another day she’ll act like it’s torture. We’ll think we’ve figured something out because she slept for three hours in her own bassinet – but the next day we’ll be unable to replicate it. The only consistent pattern I’ve figured out so far is that Tirzah Mae WILL get fussy at one pm.

And NOTHING will satisfy her unless she is laying across my chest with me being absolutely still.

Can mama read a book? Maybe. Once Tirzah Mae is asleep, as long as mom doesn’t move.

Can mama write a blog post? Probably not. That generally implies that mama is sitting up, usually a no-no for Tirzah Mae at one o’clock.

Can mama plan a menu, make a grocery list, fold laundry, or do Bible study?

Take a wild guess.

But here I do her an injustice. I usually can do something – it’s just that I have no idea what it’ll be until I’ve tried and failed at several. Which means that I can’t plan ahead that at one I’ll do [blank].

I can’t plan ahead to be productive during that time. I just have to acknowledge that it’s no-man’s time. I have to set it apart as rest time. And if I get something done? That’s a special unexpected bonus.

I haven’t learned it yet – how to be okay with just sitting still. But I’ve acknowledged that I need to learn it – that’s a step in the right direction, right?

Categories Parenting, Tirzah Mae

Sanity Saving Stuff: Preemie and Newborn

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Don’t you just love those lists of baby “must haves”? My favorite of all is Pop Sugar’s list of 100 (yes, you heard me right, 100) Must Have Baby Products. It was like the car crash you can’t help but watch. Tirzah Mae probably doesn’t have 100 items total, much less 100 separate items.

That said, I have found a few products that have absolutely saved my sanity during these preemie and newborn months (months we’re now leaving behind!)

Hospital Grade Electric Breastpump

Tirzah Mae received expressed breastmilk almost exclusively in the hospital and during the first month at home (we breastfed one to two times a day “straight from the tap.”) This meant that I was pumping a minimum of eight times a day. The Medela symphony the hospital loaned me during Tirzah Mae’s NICU stay saved me. It was fast, quiet, and comfortable.

Once Tirzah Mae was home, I used the Medela Pump-in-Style my insurance provided – and let me tell you, it’s a world of difference. I did everything I could to avoid pumping. I’d pump a couple times a day, hand express a couple more, and empty myself as best I could in the shower. Thankfully, I had plenty of breastmilk in the freezer, so the fact that I let my supply dwindle didn’t hurt Tirzah Mae (I worked intensively over a week to get it back up after I realized what I was doing). But if I’d have had less of a supply initially and was trying to exclusively pump after I returned, I’d have ended up quitting. The Pump-in-Style took longer, was noisy, and gave me blood blisters on my breasts (probably because I was increasing the pressure too much in an attempt to make it as efficient as the Symphony.)

By the grace of God, we were able to switch to exclusively breastfeeding (at the breast) around Christmas-time, meaning an end to my pumping days. I know many mothers of preemies are not so fortunate. I’ve got one word of advice for those mothers – RENT A HOSPITAL GRADE PUMP. It’s totally worth it.

Hands Free Pumping Bra

Despite Tirzah Mae being born early, I had an abundant milk supply – which meant that I only pumped 15 minutes at a time (with the hospital grade pump). But even pumping for a shorter time than many women, I still spent at least 2-3 hours a day pumping (and much more than that cleaning parts and labeling and storing the breastmilk). That’s a fair bit of time to spend doing nothing with your hands. Being able to pump hands-free meant a lot to me. (Initially, it allowed me to massage my breasts while pumping – relieving the clogged ducts I had from the beginning and helping to increase my supply to prodigous amounts. After my supply was established and clogged ducts were less of an issue, it let me email my family updates on Tirzah Mae, read a book, or browse blogs.)

Now some of you may wonder about the best hands-free pumping bras. I can’t help you with that one. I just had my husband buy cheapo sports bras, which I cut slits into to allow the flanges through. I wore them alone at night and over my nursing bra during the day. It worked great for me (although if I were to have needed to continue pumping exclusively, I would have done a buttonhole stitch around the slits and possibly used a tube top for the same purpose during the day for increased wardrobe flexibility.

Supportive Nursing Bra

At first, I thought maybe the backache I had almost immediately after delivery was from the c-section weakening my abdominals. And undoubtedly that contributed. But the biggest contributor was swollen milk breasts and insufficient support. Having delivered two months before expected, I didn’t have any nursing bras already ready – and there was no way my mom-breasts would fit into my second trimester bra (I hadn’t yet gone shopping for a third trimester one despite the fact that it was becoming clearly necessary.)

Since no one carries nursing bras my size (actually, very few stores carry bras, period, my size), I had to create my own nursing bras. I went to my local Dillards to get fitted and was delighted when the salesclerk announced that they’d just increased the size range of my favorite bra up to the size I was currently at. I took them home and used this tutorial to make myself some well-fitting nursing bras (I used the hooks and eyes off of several old bras, how’s that for being a frugal genius – or a packrat who can now justify herself?)

My back felt better almost immediately.

Get a good bra. Your back will thank you.

MOBY wrap

I’ve known for years that I wanted to be a baby-wearer. But I was plenty willing to admit that babywearing is just one of many legitimate ways to carry and care for a baby. Now I’m convinced that the MOBY has absolutely saved my sanity.

Tirzah Mae in the MOBY

You see, when we were in the hospital and when I was reading books about preemies, I kept hearing one thing: preemies must NOT be exposed to crowds. No shopping malls. No movies. No church. For a year.

Now I don’t have any problem with leaving movies and shopping malls behind. But church? I can’t just not go to church for a year.

I talked with Tirzah Mae’s neonatal nurse practitioner about it and she agreed with my proposed solution. Tirzah Mae would go to church with us in the MOBY. The MOBY holds her close, covers her up and sticks her face in my chest – meaning that no one else can get very close to touch her or cough on her (they’d have to get pretty close to my chest even to just breathe on her.)

We took her to church the Sunday after she came home and she’s been to church with us every week since then (except the week where none of us attended because I had mastitis).

Yes, the MOBY saved my sanity by letting me worship with the body weekly.

One-piece sleepers

When it comes to clothing, babies aren’t picky – which is a very nice thing. They don’t care how stylish clothing is or whether it’s matched or anything like that. What they do care about is getting in and out quickly without too much pulling and tugging. Moms care a little more about matching and cuteness and all that.

I love these one piece sleepers
One-piece sleepers answer both. Mom doesn’t have to worry about matching clothes bleary-eyed after baby has a blow-out at 1 am (after mom has gotten exactly 7 minutes of sleep, none of them consecutive, in the past 24 hours.) Baby doesn’t have to worry about something going over her head. And, if you choose the sleepers that snap all the way up the legs, you can avoid uncovering that little chest during non-blow-out diaper changes (which is a nice plus.)

I put Tirzah Mae in the adorable little onesie, pant, and sock combos often enough – but when things got crazy and I was at the end of my rope, the one-piece sleepers were sanity savers.

Looking back on your kids’ infancies, what baby products did you find absolutely essential? What were your sanity-savers? Pray tell.

Categories Parenting

The Soundtrack of our Childhood

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I’m not a music person like some people are music people.

I’m not musically skilled – I don’t play an instrument or read music. I can’t harmonize unless I’m trying to sing melody while my sisters are singing harmony beside me (in which case I start singing their harmonies – completely ruining the intended effect.)

I’m not a music connoisseur – I never really spent time just listening to music. While my older sister and just-younger-brother would sit on the living room floor under the stereo system reading through the CD inserts or record covers as they listened, I preferred to be dancing around or reading a book or otherwise doing something while music was playing.

Not that I needed (or currently need) music playing. Unlike some, I don’t need music on while I’m studying to help me concentrate. I don’t need music on while I’m working out (oh – that might be because I don’t work out :-P). I don’t need music while I’m driving or doing mundane tasks. I’m content to just be in my own mind (or to be making my own noise.)

Nevertheless, I love music.

I am not musically skilled, but all my siblings play the piano and both my sisters have worked to train their voices. While my mom didn’t play apart from picking out melody lines, she reads music and attempted to teach us some of the rudiments of music theory.

I am not a music connoisseur – but, as I mentioned, some of my siblings are.

I don’t need to have music playing to conduct my daily life – but I spent my growing up years surrounded by music. And I’m so grateful I did.

My parents got a CD player when they were still new and we had a complete collection of the Hosanna worship albums and a large collection of classical music. Music was always playing in our house. We sang and danced and washed dishes and did our schoolwork immersed in music.

And I’m so glad we did.

Today, I have a song for every situation. Singing truth to myself (or hearing truth sung in my head) is oodles more effective as a “relaxer” than any of the fancy relaxation exercises we practiced in our Bradley class. I don’t need to have music playing while I walk because I’ve got a soundtrack playing in my head, spurring me to worship and to pray as I walk. And when I do turn on the music? I am suddenly amongst my faith community – my family worshipping together as we stemmed beans, the church I grew up in singing “Ah Lord God”, the church we went to after that, my church in Columbus.

Music is important – and I’m so glad it was a part of my family’s life while I was growing up.

I’ve long known that I wanted music to be a part of my children’s life. But as an adult, I’ve often been content to let the music in my head be my only soundtrack.

When we were expecting Tirzah Mae, I knew it was time to make a change in my habits. I got a Spotify account, made some playlists of those Hosanna albums and of other songs I love, and started playing them while I went about my daily tasks.

I realized though, that something was missing. One of the most wonderful aspects of music, for me, is the connection it gives me with other worshippers – and I want my children to be connected to the church through music as well. I added another playlist to Spotify, one that I add to weekly. Every week, our church bulletin publishes the titles of the songs we’ll be singing as a congregation. And every week, I save my bulletin until I have a chance to search for each song on Spotify and add it to the “First Free” playlist.

Because music is important.

I have the honor of designing the soundtrack of my children’s childhood – and I want that soundtrack to be for them what mine was to me. I want their soundtrack to inspire them to worship the One True God. I want it to encourage them to plant truth within their hearts. I want it to draw them into fellowship with the body of Christ.

Is music important to you? How have you incorporated music into your life?

Categories Family & Friends

Meeting the Greats

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This last weekend, Daniel and I and Tirzah Mae took a trip into Missouri to see Daniel’s grandparents – Tirzah Mae’s great-grandparents.

We had a sweet time visiting with Daniel’s grandparents, who were enchanted by our little Tirzah Mae.

While we were there, I took the opportunity to take some photos (of course!)

Tirzah Mae and her great-grandpa Garcia

Jack was delighted to hold his littlest great-granddaughter.

A closer look

Grandpa’s live-in caregiver and Daniel’s cousin really wanted him to shave his beard. Daniel and I thought it was fun (and I think Jack’s inclined to agree with us!).

Tirzah Mae and Great-Grandma Garcia

Tirzah Mae sits with her great-grandma Garcia – who told me again and again how glad she was that I was “nursing.” “They really discouraged it in my day, dear – It just wasn’t done.”

Daniel fruitlessly tries to get Tirzah Mae to look at the camera

Another three generation shot – Irene and Daniel are looking at the camera, but none of us could convince Tirzah Mae to follow suit.

Family is clamoring for more photos, so I’ve jumped out of order (skipping November and December photos) to give them a more recent photo album. If you already have a password, follow the link to the January album and enter the password to see the album. If you don’t already have a password, e-mail me at b3master@.menterz.com to get it.

Categories Books

L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge Conclusion

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I’m glad I set low expectations for this year’s L.M. Montgomery Reading challenge – because, having set them low, I was able to meet them (sort of).

I wrote that I intended to reread one of the Anne books – which I did. I reread Anne of Green Gables for probably the couple dozenth time. Yet despite multiple re-readings, Anne continues to enchant. Anne of Green Gables is a story of anecdotes, with no overarching plot – but I was struck, this time around with how many threads resolve by the end of the volume. Marilla’s crispness softens, Rachel Lynde admits that she was wrong about the foolishness of adopting an orphan, and Anne and Gilbert resolve their longstanding feud. But one of the biggest changes that occurs is Anne’s transformation from being a burden to be passed on to another each time someone dies to being a burden-lifter who passes on other opportunities in order to bear Marilla’s burden once Matthew is dead.

I also stated initially that I would possibly make another Anne outfit for my American girl doll. My hope was that I could complete the brown voile with puffed sleeves that Mrs. Lynde made at Matthew’s behest. I paid close attention to the garment’s styling, looked up fashions from the gay nineties to come up with what the dress might have looked like, and thought through how I wuld modify my doll dress pattern to accomplish that look. Then, one afternoon last week, I went down to my craft room to begin – and could not find the brown fabric I’d designated for the dress years ago. It wasn’t on my fabric shelf (either among the other browns or in any other section of the shelf), so I began searching. I searched first on my table, piled high with projects in progress. I found a pair of Daniel’s slacks and a couple of my skirts to be mended – and since they required black thread and my machine was currently threaded with that, I finished them on the spot. I was just nearing the end of the pile when Tirzah Mae sounded the alarm from upstairs – and my search (and the outfit) had to be put on hold. So no Anne outfit has been made. Maybe next year.

My final goal was that I “may or may not find and read a book about Lucy Maud from my local library” – I did find a book, Looking for Anne of Green Gables, and read and reviewed it.

So, overall, while it might not have been a substantial year compared to many, I was able to complete most of my relatively modest goals.

Check out what everyone else read and said at Carrie’s conclusion post.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Looking for Anne of Green Gables by Irene Gammel

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L.M. Montgomery states that the character for Anne of Green Gables “flashed into my fancy already christened, even to the all important ‘e’.” Irene Gammel, a professsor of comparative literature, disputes that statement, suggesting that “Anne” (and the events of Anne’s life) is the product of Montgomery’s reading, life events, and inner life.

Gammel has meticulously picked through Montgomery’s journals (both the published and the unpublished) for clues about Anne – and has gone a step further to read through the books and periodicals Montgomery would have read prior to writing Anne of Green Gables. The result is a fascinating, if somewhat speculative book Looking for Anne of Green Gables.

Prior to reading this book, I was not terribly familiar with the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery (“Maud” to those who knew her) apart from the various biographical sketches Carrie has offered at Reading to Know.

So I knew bits and pieces but hadn’t really put them together into any clear understanding of her life events and how they fit together. This book helped me put some of those pieces together – although it’s important to note that this is not a biography proper, but literary criticism of a sort.

Gammel looks at various events in Maud’s life, relationships she’d formed, and news stories from her neighborhood that may have influenced the writing of Anne. Specifically, she looks at how Maud might have (or, when possible, actually did as evidenced by journal entries) interpreted those events and used them to color Anne. For example, Gammel suggests that the theme of Anne finding a family (and Marilla coming to love Anne) reflects Maud’s fantasy of a loving family (she did not feel that she was loved by her elderly grandparents, who raised her.) Likewise, the perfect bosom friendship of Anne and Diana reflects the type of friendship Maud dreamed of and attempted to enter into with half a dozen girls who always disappointed Maud when the character of their friendships changed over time. So Gammel suggests that many of the events and themes of Anne of Green Gables represent unfulfilled longings of Maud’s.

Gammel also looks at how the periodicals Maud would have been reading might have influenced her writing. For example, Gammel notes an advice column that gives the “cure” for croup that Anne uses (The column suggests that mothers who administer this cure can save their child’s life before the doctor has time to arrive.) In another example, red-haired orphan “Ann’s” show up in several stories or poems.

When I wrote a little blurb on this book on my Nightstand post recently, Barbara H. (who read and reviewed this book in 2011 commented:

“I also didn’t like that she seemed to feel she had to try to find inspiration for much that LMM wrote – as if LMM couldn’t have just made some things up out of her imagination.

I agree and disagree with Barbara. I felt that Gammel was more heavy-handed than necessary in suggesting that this scenario or that story was THE story behind various incidents in Anne of Green Gables; but I found it interesting and fairly likely that those scenarios and stories would have influenced Maud’s writing, even unconsciously. As a fellow voracious reader (although not a particularly successful writer of fiction – I’ve dabbled but never completed anything), I can certainly identify with sort-of “absorbing” the contents of what I read and having them come out in the most unlikely places. Often, I’ll say something or write something and someone will ask me where I got that from. Sometimes I’m conscious that I’m quoting something or paraphrasing something, sometimes I’m not. Sometimes I’m aware of what work I’m quoting or paraphrasing or drawing from, sometimes not. But frequently, when someone asks me for sources, if I search hard enough, I realize that the germ of many of the “original” ideas that pop into my head are not original after all but a continuation of what Mortimer Adler calls “the great conversation” (at least, I think that’s where I got that thought :-P).

I did have a few complaints with this book, in addition to the aforementioned heavy-handedness, and they happen to be the same complaints Barbara H. made (really, you should probably read her review). Maud had a number of close female friends, and Gammel frequently implies that these were erotic in nature (it seems the vogue thing these days to rewrite artists of days past as homosexuals, and while some of them might be, I am reminded when I read such conjectures of C.S. Lewis’s statements regarding platonic male friendship being the deepest love and think maybe there’s something about same-sex friendships of the past that our current sex-crazed society just doesn’t get.) Furthermore, Gammel frequently associates nature with paganism and assumes that Montgomery’s insertion of nature into the Anne books is a sort of rebellion against the Sunday-school literature Montgomery often wrote for. While this may be (again, it’s possible that was Montgomery’s intent), I think it just as likely that Maud simply enjoyed nature and created her heroine to enjoy it as well.

Overall, though, I found this a fascinating book speculating on the origins of the character “Anne of Green Gables”.

Rating: 3 stars
Category: Literary analysis/biography
Synopsis: Gammel explores the events and stories that may have influenced Lucy Maud Montgomery’s character “Anne of Green Gables”.
Recommendation: If you really enjoy Anne of Green Gables and don’t get too upset at glimpses behind the curtain (How’s that for another literary reference?), you’ll probably enjoy this book. If conjecture or the idea that an author might not be quite as original as you originally supposed bothers you, no need to get yourself worked up by reading this book.

I read this as part of the 2015 Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge. Follow the link to check out who else is reading – and what they’re reading.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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When was the last time you read a book straight through cover to cover?

The last time I did was January 28, right after Tirzah Mae got her two month shots.

The book was Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus.

The circus arrives unexpectedly, massive black and white tents surrounded by a black wrought iron fence in what yesterday was only a field. The placard at the gate announces that it is open at night only.

Once the circus-goer pays admission, he passes through the gates into a circus like none he’s ever seen before. Everything inside is in black and white, bright light and total darkness. The grounds dazzle every sense as the circus-goer follows interwoven circles through dozens of tents. Each tent contains its own entertainment. Some are typical fair, if more spectacular than usual – contortionists and fire dancers and cat trainers. But some of the Night Circus’s amusements are completely novel – a garden made of ice, an enchanted wishing tree, a labrynth of rooms each more mind-boggling than the last.

What the circus-goer doesn’t know is that this ephemeral entertainment, popping into and then disappearing from one site after another, is not the main attraction. The Night Circus is a venue, a stage, a stadium in which a high stakes game between two great magicians is played out.

The game started many years ago, when a student magician innovated a new philosophy of magic, a new technique for wizardry. His master challenged him that a new philosophy or a new technique is only worthwhile if it can be taught. Each magician would choose a student, would train that student in his own magic – then, when the time was right, the two students would be pit against one another to see whose magic would prevail.

It’s been years since the last match, but now at last, Prospero has found a student he feels sure will prevail against anyone Alexander could train. He invites Alexander to a show, invites him to the game, offers as his contestant his six-year-old daughter Celia. Alexander accepts, begins training his own apprentice. And when Alexander decides that the time is right, he contacts a man in London to create an acceptable venue for the competition – and he sends a two-word message to Prospero: “Your move.”

The Night Circus is undoubtedly one of the most unique and most interesting fantasies I’ve ever read. While the story is set in familiar late-nineteenth-and-early-twentieth-century England and America, the setting is at the same time completely novel, thanks to the spectacular Night Circus and the magical premise of the story. The characters are mysterious, elusive, and absolutely fascinating. The plot is engaging and the story well-told.

That said, I doubt The Night Circus would be a hit with everyone. The story includes magic, yes, but also astrology and fortune-telling – all givens in the world of The Night Circus. A sex scene about three-quarters through rather disappointed this reader (it wasn’t terribly explicit, but enough so to make me uncomfortable.) And a jarring f-word in the first couple chapters almost made me put the book down (that was thankfully uncharacteristic for the novel – and I rather wonder why it made it past the editors, it was so out of place for the novel’s Victorian, albeit steampunk, setting.)

So I recommend this novel with serious caveats.

Rating: 3 to 4 stars
Category: Steampunk (but it transcends the genre)
Synopsis: A circus provides the setting for two magicians to pit their young students against one another in a mind-boggling sensory display of wizardry.
Recommendation: Masterfully written, fascinating premise and setting – but certain “dirty” elements make me hesitant to recommend this to all readers.

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Normalcy

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Thankful Thursday banner

Life is starting to settle into comfortable patterns, signalling a return to some manner of normalcy. I don’t have big, earth-shattering things to give thanks for – but I am thankful for the ebb and flow of life, for seasons that come and go, for finding rhythms in each new season.

This week I’m thankful…

…for an afternoon off
Once a week, Daniel comes home early so I can go grocery shopping without Tirzah Mae. I breastfeed her, load up my books to return to the library, and head out on errands. While shopping itself is not my favorite tasks (except that I love cooking and love to be frugal, I’d probably hate shopping), I love the brief (or not so brief) visit I can make to the library before I shop. Those afternoons off, and especially the quiet of a book-filled library, do wonders for my soul.

…for connections
It’s taken a long while to get connected at our church. We love the preaching, the worship from the Word – but relationships have been difficult to establish. We still don’t have bosom friends there – but we are starting to develop friendships. Sunday reminded me of that as I had one conversation after another with acquaintances who are becoming friends.

…for turkey dinners
We were just bringing Tirzah Mae home at Thanksgiving, and neither of our families do turkey for Christmas – which means Daniel and I haven’t had a turkey dinner yet this fall/winter. But turkey’s were on super-sale following both of those holidays and I picked up a couple for our freezer. I cooked one on Monday and we’ve been eating from it ever since. Yum, yum.

…for a wonderful, beautiful, very-good day
Did you read about my Tuesday? A blessing from on high, that day was.

…for breastfeeding during shots
Tirzah Mae had her 2 month shots yesterday – a total of 3 pokes. When I first mentioned breastfeeding during administration to the doctor, he was pretty uncertain – he thought there’d need to be two people there to hold her and didn’t think everyone would fit around my breast. But when the nurse came in and it was just her, I asked again. “Sure,” she said, “doesn’t make any difference to me.” But it did make a difference for Tirzah Mae and I to be able to cuddle and breastfeed to comfort her before, during, and after those shots.

This newborn season has been a long one, filled with ups and downs – and I am so thankful that God has brought us through this long, hard newborn period. And now, as we enter the season of infant proper, I am thankful for the normalcy He’s wrought – and acknowledge His goodness whether the normalcy continues or a new challenge throws us off-kilter.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
…
He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11