Monday, November 19, 2012

Growing Pains


He is only 2, but he is almost grown.

I know this because of all the older mothers who tell me it's so. But I know it, too, because I can sense it happening.

In his chubby hands that grow larger each day, edged with peanut butter and bread crumbs. In his shrinking sleeves that bear the smudges of his colors and "marks", as he calls them.


Here in the middle of our day, right in the middle of him playing with his trucks and police cars and Legos, sometimes right in the middle of lunch, or breakfast, or story time, I tell him:

William, I need...

And before I can finish he looks up and puts his arms around my neck. "A biiiiiiig hug," he says, the words coming out in his clear and ringing voice. He has a slight southern drawl that still catches me by surprise.

When he hugs me, I close my eyes. I wrap him up as close as can be and I breathe in deep his toddler graces, his baby shampoo and windblown curls and strawberry breath. He is always lugging a toy, a book, a tractor, a balloon. He is never empty handed.


And then he is off.

He is so fleeting, and I can't get him to stay still. Or to stop growing. He keeps on getting bigger and taller and smarter and funnier and leaner and, even though he is only 2, he is practically 17.

He is racing me. This is why I pour into him. Because he is growing and needs filling and teaching and I am the one charged with this task. I am the one who teaches him daily, who shows him and models for him about demonstrating love to others, who teaches about beauty, and grace, and how we turn to God in all times and all things, from the way we greet our grandparents at the door to the way we speak to strangers. And it is hard work that I do for him, but I do it because I love him and I love Him and even though I know I fail daily, I am sticking with it.

It is no small thing, this raising up of a child. Especially the part about "in the ways that he should go." But I am doing it, and already I see in him a light that is growing.

My sweet bundle of energy and happy laughter, I am doing my best for you. Even when it's hard, especially when it's mundane. I am doing this for you.



Tuesday, November 6, 2012

A Change of Seasons


Fall is here, subtle and transient, dropping temperatures on a whim for one or two days before vanishing altogether for weeks on end, and the afternoon sun climbs high and makes everyone sweat and wish we lived somewhere cooler. But I see the beauty in our prolonged summer, the strange bursts of color from shrubs and bushes that are blooming again in the same season, since the weather has allowed it.

Last week I took my little boys to Town Lake to show them evidence of the changing seasons. The foliage along the water's edge seems to change with greater intensity and vibrancy than what we see further inland. William collected handfuls of yellow leaves and fallen acorns, proof of fall's arrival.

I have always loved fall, but as a child I met the season with a bit of disappointment and longing. Our Texas autumn didn't look right to me; it wasn't like the fall I saw in story books, where trees looked as though they'd been set ablaze with color and frosty mornings led to Christmases draped in snow and icicles. I would stand underneath our old oak trees, close my eyes, and pray for snow that never came.

Now, as a grown woman, a mother who understands why it can't snow in November in Austin, I meet the changing season with anticipation and, still, longing. October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. It is also the month that we lost Jordan, and this November would have been Violet's first birthday. Last year marked a season of loss for my household, but as we settle into our new routine with our infant boy and our two year old, I sense the end of that season. The days are not marked with sadness or tears anymore, but with the bustle of a young family with two tiny ones. This season of our lives doesn't look like something I would have seen in a storybook, but it's beautiful in its own way.

Memorial to Unborn Children, image found here
In the quiet early hours before the sun rises, as I slip quietly from our bed to nourish my crying 10 week old Joshua, I feel the cool wood floors and breathe the smell of a fall morning coming in from the open windows. I sense the subtle shift; it is fall in Texas. I cradle Joshua, my own harbinger of a new season, in my arms, and I know that happiness is here once again. I rock him and nurse him, grateful for the few minutes of quiet, and I think of the best way to express this, but I can never settle on the perfect words. Instead, I will just say it the best way I know how: I feel true happiness and I feel true peace, and I believe with all of my heart that God does what is best for me. But my heart cries out, on peaceful quiet mornings, for Violet and Jordan. I think it's safe to say that I will always long, in some way, to hold them and to hear their baby coos and cries, to know what they would have looked like as toddlers and teenagers, to know if they would have had blue eyes like both of my other boys, like their father. I just wanted to share this to honor those other women (and men) who know this type of hurt and longing. There is beauty in every season.



Thursday, November 1, 2012

On Carving Out Spaces


I have been putting off writing a new post because, since this newest little chubby child has emerged from the womb (safe and sound!) and come to live in our home*, I have felt protective and unsure of throwing my words and pictures around online. Not because I worry about cyber-crime (feels funny to type that) or privacy issues, but because I care if my words are encouraging. I want to make sure they aren't hollow or misleading or, worse yet, discouraging to any one, especially another mother.


Funny how the protective hands of a mama can extend well past the reach of her children.

Along those lines, I will say that I have felt in my heart a strong, deeply rooted desire to carve out space  lately -- space for my husband to be encouraged, space for my toddler son to grow and play creatively and have quiet time, space for the four of us to be still as a family, space for Joshua to be nurtured, and space for me to feel peace and to create calm and order in an otherwise chaotic world. I plan on focusing a little more on these things over the next few weeks and hope to write more about them.

Ellen at Sweet Water is writing a 31 day series on home, and her words have been so encouraging and strengthening to me lately. You should read what she's writing about because I bet it hits home with you, too.

* I know I skipped a whole chapter and never posted about Joshua's birth or first days here, but I am still thinking about those very special days and what can be said about them. He is, as you can see, totally healthy, weighing 7 pounds and 3 ounces at birth, and is precious as can be.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Joshua's Nursery

It's finished! Finally. Ten days before his scheduled arrival. Walking past his nursery and catching a glimpse of his stenciled book ledges from the living room makes me feel so happy. I can't believe the journey this pregnancy has been, but I am so grateful to be ten days from my due date with a healthy and developed baby incubating.

Upon entering the nursery. His room is part of a jack and jill suite that shares a bathroom with our guest bedroom. One day I will decorate it for both boys to share, but for now it is still just for guests. 
 This room is fairly small, but has plenty of room for what we need. Those black french doors lead to the guest room.
This room is blindingly bright for portions of the day, and the crib really glows like that in the early afternoon. I love it, but we'll definitely be closing the blinds for Joshua's naps.
 Ledge bookshelves built by Don's dad, who is such a talented carpenter. I painted them white and stenciled little owls and woodland creatures on one end of each shelf.
 I love this little changing table from Walmart. I bought it because it was cheap and the perfect size, but once it was assembled (thank you, Dad!), it was a little lackluster. I painted the knobs with blue acrylic paint and added white polkadots before sealing them with a very thin coat of polyurethane, made covered storage bins to hold diapers, wipes, and swaddlers, and added a hand painted woodland scene.
My father-in-law cut a 1/8 inch piece of scrap wood to fit the ledge around the top of the changing table, and I added layers of turquoise and blue paint before stenciling and sketching owls, trees, mushrooms, and a couple of love birds and squirrels onto the wood. Once everything dried, I dipped a wadded up paper towel into brown acrylic paint and dragged and dabbed it over the painting, wiping it every few seconds with a wet rag. This made it look distressed and gave it a bit more dimension. 
 I sewed a little pillow for William to snuggle up with and read. The books on the bottom two shelves are all of his favorites and we read in Joshua's room at least twice a day now.
 I bought a $5 frame from Goodwill, removed the glass (and the scary Dubuque poster circa 1982 from it), and made a new background from craft paper. I glued lengths of twine, anchored with whatchamacallits (wow, I'm too lazy to look the name up even though I'm already online...sad), and used tiny white clothespins to display sweet notes from friends and family written for Joshua as part of his baby blessing. 
 Nothing in his nursery is fancy, but everything was made with love. Just some pom pom trim to edge the lamp shade.
 His crib, the same crib my sisters and I slept in as babies 30 years ago. See those storage boxes to the right of his crib? I bought a ton on clearance at Joann's and they house clothes that Joshua won't need for months. The boxes look so sweet stacked in a tower, but since William's favorite game is dumping things out of boxes and reorganizing them, I had to move the rest of the boxes into the closet.
 His verse, pinned inside a handmade frame I bought when Ginger's was closing down. 
 These bunny slippers were the very first thing I bought for William before he was born, but he was such a whopper of a baby that his feet were never small enough to wear these sweet little booties. I wanted to display them in Joshua's room because this room really is a space for me to cherish both boys.
More framed prints from Ginger's that I purchased when they closed down. And the middle frame is my all-time favorite photo of my mom, older sister, and me.
 I ruffled teal ribbon and glued it to a white frame.
 I really love the old-fashioned alphabet cross stitch samplers. 
Now all we need is Joshua. His new Moses basket awaits.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

What a Heart Can Hold


I sit in the booth at our favorite Chinese restaurant as Don orders his meal, and I feel the little body in my womb squirm and stretch. His head nuzzles my hip; his feet try to find their way between my ribs, and I gently press my hand to my belly to calm his frenzied activity. When he is born in less than a month, I will swaddle him, I will wrap him tight, hold him close and sing to him. For now, though, I mother him as best I can through the barrier that both connects and separates us, my body.

Our waitress smiles at me and asks, "Do you have other children or is this your first?"

There is no pause when I answer, "No, we have a two-year-old son at home with his grandparents."

Don and I smile casually but I look at his eyes and know he is thinking of them both, our other two little ones. The ones who came between William and Joshua. The ones who came and left.

In the late evening, when William is asleep in his room and Don is finishing up work notes in his office, I go into Joshua's nursery and sink down into the glider. I put my hands on my belly and I look at his crib, his books, the piles of sweet newborn clothes waiting for him, and I am so overwhelmed with peace and thanks that I would probably fall to my knees if I weren't already sitting down. I still don't understand the details of His plan, how God decides who will stay and who will go and who will hurt and who will have a baby and who will not. I am grateful for this. I know in the deepest recesses of my heart that knowledge of His plans for my future would be far too great a weight for me to carry.

Here in our home, in this tiny room that has been painted for a baby, there is peace. There is love. There is belief in an author of life, an original creator who remains even to this very moment.

I rock in the glider and close my tired eyes because, as it most always is with a two-year-old in tow and the full weight of the third trimester in my womb, today has been a long day. I sing, like I always have.

Lord, prepare me
to be a sanctuary
pure and holy, tried and true.
With thanksgiving, I'll be a living
sanctuary for you.

Here in my heart, God has carved out a space that I never dreamt could exist. A sanctuary is being built. I think of all the joy, followed by sorrow, the tears that would not stop coming, the bitterness that was so tempting to plant but that I weeded out with His grace alone. I feel where the sorrow bloomed to hope and the fears gave way to surrendering, and now, here in my heart, there is a sanctuary. And there is room for each child He gave us, William, Violet, Jordan, and Joshua.

What can a heart hold? There is no limit. There is no limit at all.



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

My New Favorite Room

It isn't finished yet, but everyone has been helping me get Joshua's nursery ready for him. This is the sunniest room in our house; it is illuminated for the first half of the day. William and I spend an hour every morning reading in Joshua's glider (which William hesitantly handed down).

 I love that Joshua will sleep in the same crib I did as a baby.
 Joshua's new stuffed animals, thrown into the crib to save them from William.
 My gracious father-in-law built book ledges for the nursery and I painted them white. Billye, my mother-in-law, spent days painting the walls and all of the trim, which was still gold (in oil based paint, ACK!) from the previous owners.
 The blanket I made for Joshua months ago, when I was on bed rest.
 His bedding. When the sun shines on the crib, it is washed in light, hence the faded colors. We still have to install blinds.
 A photo of my mom, big sis, and me as a (huge) newborn baby. Note that crib in the background!
 Sweet cross stitch samplers saved from Ginger's, a handmade arts institution in Austin that is sadly closing down.
 An unfinished project.
 More unfinished projects. This frame might be my best Goodwill find yet.
 Newborn kimono onesies, the first things we bought for Joshua after weeks wondering if he would really stay.


Has anyone tried to take a pregnancy shot of themselves without a tripod? It's hard work.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Pumpkin Muffins with Brown Sugar Whipped Cream

Yesterday, as I drove home from HEB in the scalding 100 degree heat and lamented the weight of my very pregnant belly that pulled me forward in my seat, I reminded myself that the blazing days of summer in Texas will come to an end, as will this joy ride of a pregnancy, and that by the time the first cold front blows in, I will have another sweet baby nestled in my arms (instead of punching me in the bladder).

Naturally, this made me crave pumpkin.
Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
There is nothing that signifies the arrival of fall to me more than the smell of pumpkin bread baking in the oven. Pumpkin bread is one of my mother's specialties and as soon I unpacked my melting 2 year old and groceries from the car, I called her for suggestions on a lighter pumpkin bread recipe. I found a quick and easy recipe on Cooking Light, but I adapted it a bit for my family's tastes and what we had on hand. Because there was no way I was venturing back outside in the heat to buy egg substitutes. Here is the revised recipe.

Pumpkin Muffins with Whole Wheat Flour and Brown Sugar Whipped Cream 
(to balance out the whole wheatiness)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 & 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour (I always use King Arthur)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup mashed or pureed banana (get all the clumps mashed out!)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (or same amount of low-fat milk with dash of vinegar added)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup water
1-15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
cooking spray


1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix the first eight ingredients (flour through allspice) in a large bowl.

3. In a second bowl, mix both types of sugar, pureed banana, oil, buttermilk or milk, and eggs with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until well blended. Add the water and pumpkin and mix again on medium-high speed until well blended. 

4. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and blend on low speed or hand stir with a rubber spatula until well blended. 

5. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Fill each muffin cup almost to the top with the batter and bake for 20-22 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove the muffins when they are golden brown and the tops are firm. Let cool on a cooling rack.

Optional: Add 1 cup of cold heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to a metal mixing bowl. Mix on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until the desired consistency. Spoon over your pumpkin muffin for a significantly less healthy but fantabulous dessert.





Friday, July 6, 2012

Home is in the Details

Do you remember once before when I wrote about my Pinterest addiction that led to confusion and me thinking I might prefer modern things to traditional furnishings? I may be the only person I know who has (or at least admits to having) this illness, but I am symptom free and more design-satisfied if I simply stay off of Pinterest.

But I broke my own rule today. I fell off the wagon. I looked through other people's boards (since I deleted my account) for way too long, and now my creativity feels thwarted from eye candy overload. 

In an attempt to sober myself, I went around our living room with my camera and focused on the things I like instead of the endless possibilities for restyling. This is the room where William plays, where I work and sew, where I sit with friends for coffee breaks, where we eat with guests. I focused on the things that are unique to our home and family.
 The perfectly clear light that streams in the dining room windows, making everything easier to photograph.
 The light that floods the front room so I never miss out on the sun, even while on bed rest.
 The mismatched pillows and chairs and the assortment of antique end tables.
 My homemade faux butterfly and moth shadow box, another bed rest project I wouldn't have attempted otherwise.
 The stack of water damaged (but loved) classic books my dad bought decades ago.
 William's "river" nestled in a wicker basket turned coffee table. The blanket was a happy Goodwill find (it's really a Pottery Barn Kids blue 100% silk blanket). He sits in it and pretends to row a boat filled with trucks and stuffed animals.
The doily project I made last year. Not everyone likes it, including my mother who refers to it as "an inappropriate use of textiles," but it's striking to look at, and that's what I was aiming for.
A set of Don's paternal grandmother's green dominos nestled in a silver plated candy dish my parents received as a wedding gift 35 years ago (and apparently didn't want, since my mom let me steal it from them last Christmas).
The entry dresser and mirror that belonged to my mom when she was growing up. There is a scary amount of beige happening in this area, but I am still debating on whether I should spray paint the Ballard Design buffet lamps or paint the mirror and add some colorful picture frames around it.

I love our big table, but I can never figure out what to put on it outside of meal times. Note the FoodSaver and lens cover, for example.

When I get overwhelmed with all of the work we still have to do in our home, I remind myself of the things I love and that our home is in the details. Does anyone else do the same?