Funny Dan and Emily Story

It's time to blog about something much more exciting than pregnancy talk. These stories can probably be filed under "too much information", but sometimes the midwest needs a little TMI to rattle its cornfed modesty. *wink*

To Kiss or Not to Kiss (No kissing is described in this post. Silly reader.)

When Dan and I were newly dating, there was that awkward "when to kiss goodnight" stage. I can't even remember if we had had "the talk" about our relationship yet, but I remember the night when we were talking on my front porch for, like, an hour. Or two. A long time.

The weather was getting cool in Maryland: Dan was wearing a plaid flannel shirt. It must have been around December because for some reason there were small pine tree clippings sitting beside the front porch... probably from a wreath or Christmas tree.

In any event, the awkward moment came when we had to say goodnight. 

I was crazy about Dan but not ready for the kissing and not sure if he was either. In a moment of sheer genius, I decided to pick up some of the pine clippings and tuck them in Dan's shirt pocket. (I know: huh?) The idea, gentle reader, was that I was trying to gently push him away whilst filling his pocket with, um, evergreen. In retrospect, it was just plain strange.

I didn't know if he got the idea that I was pushing him away or not, so I continued this process of adding a spring of fragrance to his shirt pocket while thinking that I was pushing him away.

I was so suave.

After several minutes of  decorating poor Dan, his shirt pocket was bursting forth with a mini Christmas tree all its own. It was enormously evergreen.

Dan's only parting gift that evening was a pocket full of Christmas. For some reason I thought my plan, well, worked.

Years later, Dan confessed to me that he thought I was flirting with him and wanted to be kissed as a RESULT of the evergreen pocket filling. 

Daily Bread

They say that it takes 21 days for a behavior to become a  habit. 

If that's the case, there are several behaviors I have had to learn in this pregnancy that I wouldn't mind keeping:

1. Being flexible.

Each day, I never know what the day holds as far as health and energy. Plans change a lot. I'm learning to simplify, keep life flexible and not get wrapped around the axle when I have to cancel plans. 

2. Possibly disappointing people. 

I'm learning to let people be disappointed by my lessened involvement in their life. I've had the "luxury" of having one child and being pretty flexible with my schedule. But life is changing a lot. I'm learning to let people have faith in our friendship, have faith that I still love them and, more importantly, have faith in God's perfect love for them. This is especially difficult when I have to disappoint Morgan, who I love so very much. But sometimes I have to be sick all day while she is unhappy with my lack of involvement. 

3. Listening to my emotional and bodily signals.

Um, no, I'm not talking about bodily functions. When my body is tired, I try to listen to it, even if it's the ridiculous hour of 9am and I'm exhausted. Raising a child is energy-expending work and so is growing one. 

And when my mind says, "You should be planning a nursery and preparing for the days ahead" but my emotions say, "No, thanks... I'm not ready," I'm learning to not feel guilty about my emotional timing. There's probably a good reason and no use forcing the issue.

It's a funny time of life--learning to downscale on so many levels-- but the lessons are really good.

"F" is for "Flutters"

Today I felt honest-to-goodness baby flutters. So amazing.

Here's how it happened: I ate a sandwich and went right to bed for a rest. I like to hug my Snoogle pillow tightly against my stomach when I rest. So between the eaten sandwich and the Snoogle pillow hug, the baby was squished and let me know it. I lay still in amazement, feeling it flutter around my abdomen.

I never felt flutters with Morgan, so this was particularly exciting. I think the baby was trying to say "I'm sorry" for making yesterday so barf-tastic. Thankfully, today was less so.

Morganisms

Morgan mutters to herself: "Oh, I keep mixing up letters and numbers."

Morgan: "Mom, is there an 'M' on the clock?"

Emily: "Um, no. Why do you ask?"

Morgan: "Well I have a '7' and a '0'... what else is on a clock?"

Emily: "How about the number '5'?"

Morgan: "Great." She hands me a piece of paper. "Here is when you can get up tomorrow morning."

The paper said "507".

__________________________


Morgan: "Mom, I think you should have LOTS of babies. Not just this one."

*groan*

Emily: "Why is that?"

Morgan: "Well, simply put..." and then she proceeded to talk about how wonderful babies were and tangented off into another story.

It was all but "simply put". :)

Psalm 23 for Me

I'm almost 17 weeks, so it really surprised me yesterday to spend the day very, very sick. To tell you the truth, I was a little ticked that I felt that ill at this stage. So there was crying and anger and tiredness and frustration. I miss my health and my family.

The day felt totally overwhelming before it really began, but I received some great care:

I'm so thankful for Debbie's help. She took great care of Morgan all morning.

And when Debbie had to leave at 2, Morgan played with one of her Little P*nies (yes, she won one for her swimming efforts!) She must have played quietly by herself for 2 or 3 hours. This is unusual for her and I was so thankful.

Thank you, God, for Debbie's help. Thank you for Morgan's ability to play quietly by herself yesterday. Thank you for my kind and gracious husband.

And God, if you see fit, it sure would be nice to have a more gentle rhythm of health so I can be with them more.

Psalm 23 parts from the Message

God, my shepherd!

I don't need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadown,

You find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to Your word,

You let me catch my breath...

Strange Days

This is such a funny time of life. As if I was ever really in control in the first place, I have to make plans that go something like this:

"Sounds like fun! I'll try to make it."

Each morning I consult my gastrointestinal intruder to see if this will be a bed day or an "on my feet" day. 

I don't like to be inconsistent or not reliable. It's funny to be in church or at a friend's function one week and then be totally bedridden the next time. I feel like I'm dissing my friends with some lame excuse about being sick, esp. when I can make one function early in the day but not another later in the day. This is one strange pregnancy. 

I'm off to bed now. This precious little one is taking its time growing. 

A Mother's Thoughts

And so it begins.

Today one mother in Morgan's new swim class was letting the teacher know that my daughter was holding her son back from learning. Ugh. I wasn't there but apparently it wasn't done with tact.

My daughter was enrolled in the lowest level swim class available. 

Her son had two more levels of advanced placement swim classes available. But she didn't want those.

In God's providence, I was sick this morning and Debbie, my angelic helper, had to take Morgan to class. Debbie even got in the pool with Morgan and helped the teacher by freeing up his time with other students.

But the other mother still complained.

If this mother complained about me, I'd be able to take it. But when she talked about my daughter as a burden, the momma bear in me wanted to do terrible, terrible things to this woman. I even practiced a mean speech in front of my bathroom mirror. I did. How dare she speak disparagingly about my daughter that way. I'm still seething.

But then this: God gave his own son to be insulted and ultimately killed by the world. He loved his enemies.

God, give me grace to love those who hurt me, but much more to those who hurt my child. I'm going to need it. At the same time, give me wisdom with how to protect and grow my child in this competitive world. Protect, but not coddle. 

_____________________

Addendum: I did end up signing Morgan up for a more private swim class where she'll receive much more gentle attention.

Besides, my daughter, who was afraid to stick her head in the water yesterday, blew nose bubbles in the water today! Good job, Morgan. You're brave.